Francisco Neto on Monday touted the debut of Stefanie Ribeiro in the squad for the two matches against Northern Ireland, in the qualifying stage of Euro 2025.
In the call-up, announced today at the Cidade do Futebol, the coach bet on 25 players, focusing on the debut of Stephanie Ribeiro (Pumas UNAM, Mexico) as well as on the possible international debut of Beatriz Camerão (Damanense). Who returned to the invited.
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“Beatriz was already with us in a training camp in the USA, where we played against the USA and Nigeria and we had a good career in training and with the U-23 team. Stephanie is a player who plays in the Mexican Championship, she has a lot of experience, great size and great professionalism,” explained Francisco Neto. , regarding these two pieces of news.
There are also some absences in the selection lineup, due to the absence of Tatiana Pinto (Brighton, England), Ana Capita and Fatima Pinto (Sporting), and Nadia Gomez (Chicago Red Stars, USA), due to physical problems.
“Some of the players mentioned are actually due to injury, and they are not ready. These are injuries that will take time to rehabilitate them, so if they are not ready it does not make sense for them to be there,” Francisco Neto explained regarding the situation of some players who are usually called up and who will not be able to perform. Their contribution.
The women's national team will face Northern Ireland on Friday 31st at 8:45pm in Leiria, and will meet the same team again on Northern Ireland's soil in Lurgan on June 4th starting at 7:00pm.
The aim will be to consolidate the leadership position in Group 3 of the second division qualifying for the European Championship 2025, where they currently have two wins in the two matches already played.
“We have to look at each match individually, as they say from the coaches side, because we know that we cannot take anything for granted. We know that on the other side there is a very competitive team and Portugal must be in first place. The highest level, “With the same spirit, ability and attitude that we have, whether in a special match, the World Series or the playoffs.”
Despite leading Portugal through the Euro 2025 qualifying stage alone, Francisco Neto still finds room for improvement in the team's performance and intends to see that growth in the next two matches.
“In the matches against Malta, we had some technical difficulties. The fluidity of our game was not as good as we would have liked, largely due, at times, to our inability to pass and receive, which did not happen.” “We went out as smoothly as we liked,” Francisco Neto said.
The national team has not conceded any goals so far in its qualifying group, and the coach promised to do everything in his power to keep the situation that way.
“We want to win the three points, and this is always the most important thing in every match, but of course for us it is a moment that we do not talk about a lot. We talk a lot about the goals scored but for us it is an important factor,” he admitted.
To reach the final stage, scheduled in Switzerland from 2 to 27 July 2025, Portugal will need to be in one of the top three positions in its group and will also have to overcome two play-off rounds, the first scheduled for 27 and 27 July. October 29 and the second on November 27 and December 3. The first-placed teams guarantee promotion to League A.
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