Amid a storm of controversy following Cristiano Ronaldo’s withdrawal from the national team’s squad in Copenhagen, Portugal faced an unusual bureaucratic mix-up in its match against Denmark for the third round of the UEFA Nations League.
According to the documents submitted to UEFA, the Portuguese squad had serious gaps. Only eight players were listed as substitutes, with key players such as João Félix, João Neves, and Rui Silva listed as absent, while even the captaincy had been assigned to the wrong player—Rúben Dias instead of Bruno Fernandes.
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This situation arose as all those in charge were trying to restore order following the upheaval caused by the absence of “CR7” from the national team, and they had neglected important bureaucratic matters, forcing them to submit a last-minute request to UEFA to change the roster.
The Federation approved the request submitted by the visiting team; however, if Denmark had not “cooperated” and given its approval as well, the Portuguese would have had to play with the roster as it was originally submitted.
The “irony” of the situation is that João Félix entered the game as a substitute and, in the final minutes before the end of the match, scored, “sealing” the victory for his team, which prevailed 4-2.
A mistake by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) nearly cost the national team dearly in Denmark.
Before kickoff, the national team had listed only eight substitutes on the game sheet, and players such as João Neves and João Félix were left off the official roster.
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*photo source: AP
