Archive for May 13th, 2008

Portugal’s Euro 2008 Roster – 23 Players, No Maniche

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

The tournament debut approaching, managers from all Euro 2008-bound will soon be making their final call-up lists for this Summer’s big competition. The deadline imposed by UEFA is officially May 28, but while other coaches prefer to keep their options open by making “pre-selections” of 28-30 players, Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari went straight to the point today and gave his final List of 23 who will be travelling to SwissAustria in June.

The biggest notable absentee is Inter midfielder Maniche, a player who regularly featured in the squad during the qualifier campaign. This season however, his playing time at Inter Milan and before, at Atletico Madrid) has been scarce at best, which is the likely reason why the Portuguese manager decided to drop him. Still, his absence makes for quite a shock.

If you want to know more about the selections, Portugoal.net has the full story here.  Alternatively, you can check out the discussion over at BigSoccer.com here.

Here’s the full list:

.

Goalkeepers: Club:
Ricardo Pereira Betis
Quim Silva Benfica
Rui Patricio Sporting
.  
Defenders:  
Miguel Monteiro Valencia
Jose Bosingwa Porto
Paulo Ferreira Chelsea
Ricardo Carvalho Chelsea
Fernando Meira Stuttgart
Bruno Alves Porto
Pepe Real Madrid
Jorge Ribeiro Boavista
.  
Midfielders:  
Raul Meireles Porto
Joao Moutinho Sporting
Deco Barcelona
Armando Petit Benfica
Miguel Veloso Sporting
.  
Forwards:  
Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester Utd
Simao Sabrosa Atletico Madrid
Ricardo Quaresma Porto
Nuno Gomes Benfica
Hugo Almeida Werder Bremen
Nani Manchester Utd
Helder Postiga Panathinaikos

Has Alessandro Del Piero’s Return to the Azzurri Finally Arrived?

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

That’s a big one, right? Big enough to deserve its very own detailed and analytical answer I’m sure.

So why don’t you go have a look over at The Offside, and read my Will Alessandro Del Piero Be Going to Euro 2008? post? :wink: