Portugal And France they face each other this evening (9pm) at Volksparkstadion Hamburg for the quarter-finals of Euro 2024. A more difficult path than expected for both: after closing Group F with the defeat suffered by Georgia, the Portuguese qualified only through the penalty lottery, thanks to the three spot kicks saved by goalkeeper Diogo Costa. Blue they are showing an iron defense (only one goal conceded by Maignan), but also an attack that scores with an eyedropper: to bend Belgium in the eighth finals it took an own goal by Vertonghen, decisive like that of the Austrian Wöber in the debut match. Refereeing direction entrusted to the English referee Michael Oliver. Kick-off at 21:00.
HOW TO GET TO PORTUGAL – Ronaldo’s tears were washed away by the subsequent penalty converted, which made the first miss from eleven meters against Slovenia irrelevant. The former Juventus player will once again lead his teammates towards the finish line of the semi-final: his presence as a starter in the center of the attack is certain, while doubts remain as to who will play wide on the left with Diogo Jota reported in a comeback on Leao. This is the only doubt to be resolved for Martinez.
HOW FRANCE ARRIVES – Deschamps must deal with the heavy absence due to suspension of Rabiot. For the replacement, there are two solutions in the head of the French coach: the most conservative involves the use of the Madrid player Camavinga, alongside Kanté and his clubmate Tchouameni. The other would involve moving Griezmann back to the midfield line and relaunching Dembelé in the starting eleven, in the trident with Thuram and Mbappé.