Target Italy.
In Portugal the opening of the sports pages is for Cristiano Ronaldo a possible reinforcement of Porto for the next season (but mother Dolores 'cheers' for Sporting Lisbon) but a lot of space is also dedicated to the events of the Seleçao which is preparing to play what everyone else they hope it will be the first of the two world play-offs.
Tomorrow at the 'do Dragao' stadium, preferred to the 'da Luz' because the support of the public is felt more, there is the Turkey of the German coach Stefan Kuntz and the imperative is to respect the tradition that, in the previous eight two national teams, has always seen the Lusitanians winners.
At that point it will be necessary to think of Italy, given by the Portuguese as a sure winner against North Macedonia, due to Mancini's spells.
In the meantime, it is better to take one step at a time, and the coach Fernando Santos is totally focused on the match against Burak Yilmaz teammates, in which he plays for the place: in case of failure to qualify for Qatar 2022 it is likely that the coach will be sacked and that Jorge Jesus arrives who, when asked about it, replied that he could not rule out anything.
Santos's certainty is called Cristiano Ronaldo, on whom he will aim for the umpteenth time, even if the numbers show that CR7 is the least fit player among the six forwards called up, having scored only 4 goals in 12 games played in 2022, without assist.
Diogo Jota, has 7 goals and one assist in 16 games, and the former AC Milan player André Silva has done even better, with 7 goals and 3 assists in 12 games.
Santos has to deal with other absences, not Ronaldo, because he will not have Ruben Dias, Pepe, Ruben Neves, Cancelo and Renato Sanches available, including injuries, suspensions and Covid.
"But it makes no sense to talk about unavailable - Santos commented -. I'll try to choose the team that will give me the best guarantees and without losing confidence. The team? I have very few doubts."
A joke also on the risk of exemption: "I understand what you mean, but I am completely focused on tomorrow's match. We have to win and go to the World Cup: we will play for eleven million Portuguese".
And Turkey?
He counts a lot on the good mood of Cengiz Under, reborn in Ligue 1 ("going from Roma to Marseille was one of the best decisions I've ever made"), and on the fact - says Kuntz - that "the team has shown that they have the strength mental necessary. Team spirit helps, we played difficult games but we won them. We can win even if we go under, we are going in the right direction. "
The important thing will be to understand that "against Portugal we cannot think of winning if we just defend. We have talented players, and we are strong in front. We hope to play the final, because it would mean playing it at home."