Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo in action at EURO 2024. (Source: Getty Images)

With 1 point after 2 matches, Georgia still has hope of reaching the round of 16 of EURO 2024. To make the dream come true, Georgia must beat Portugal in the final match of the group stage. This is a seemingly impossible task for coach Willy Sagnol and his team even if Seleccao uses the B team.

As for Portugal, they officially won the ticket to the next round as the top of Group F. Coach Roberto Martinez and his team won all 6 points in the first 2 matches, beating the Czech Republic 2-1 and Turkey 3-0. Therefore, the final match against Georgia is only a formality for the “European Brazil”.

Therefore, coach Martinez will make some changes to the starting lineup compared to the previous two matches. The Spanish coach will give opportunities to many reserve players but keep at least two important positions: striker and goalkeeper.

In the pre-match press conference, the former Belgium coach revealed that Ronaldo and Diogo Costa will continue to start.

Coach Martinez opened the press conference: “We are prepared to win against Georgia. On June 26, the starting lineup still has all the important players. Diogo Costa is still in goal because I don’t like rotating goalkeepers in big tournaments.”

“But the goalkeeper is not the only position, Ronaldo will also start. I can confirm that the captain will be in the starting lineup. Ronaldo is very important for us and he is ready.”

Letting Ronaldo start against Georgia was a very surprising decision by coach Martinez because this striker is 39 years old. Before that, CR7 played the entire first 2 matches and contributed 1 assist for Bruno Fernandes to score.