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

With 1 point after 2 matches, Georgia still has hope of reaching the 1/8 round of EURO 2024. To make the dream come true, Georgia must win against Portugal in the group stage finale. This is a seemingly impossible task for coach Willy Sagnol and his team even if Seleccao uses the B squad.

As for Portugal, they officially won the ticket to continue as the top of Group F. Coach Roberto Martinez and his team won all 6 points in the first 2 matches, winning against the Czech Republic 2-1 and Türkiye 3-0. Therefore, the final match against Georgia only has a procedural meaning for “European Brazil”.

Therefore, coach Martinez will make changes in 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.

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

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

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

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