[ad_1]
sport
Portugal is ready to release early teenager Joao Felix to the League of Nations this week with coach Fernando Santos, claiming the 19-year-old has not been brought just for the race.
PHOTO FILE: Football Football – UEFA Europa League quarterfinal final – Benfica – Eintracht Frankfurt – Stade da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal – 11 April 2019 Benfica's Joao Felix celebrates his first goal REUTERS / Pedro Nunes
marker
PORTO: Portugal is ready to release early teenager Joao Felix to the League of Nations this week with his coach Fernando Santos, claiming the 19-year-old has not been brought just for the race.
The Benfica forward has yet to make his international debut but has had a remarkable first season in professional football with 20 goals and 11 badists for his club in 43 games in all competitions.
Many of them were celebrated with his younger brother, who is a ball boy at Benfica 's home games.
Its market value has soared to 31 million euros, according to the Transfermarkt specialist website, and Benfica is already struggling to keep it, virtually all major European clubs have expressed interest in signing. him.
Although he signed a contract until June 2023, he has a $ 120 million unlock clause and, rumor has it, many clubs are willing to pay.
Portugal, champion of Europe, will face Switzerland in the semifinal of the League of Nations on Wednesday and his coach Fernando Santos said that there was no reason for Joao Felix to be unable to make his international debut.
The winners qualify for the final where they will meet the Netherlands or England who will meet Thursday at Guimaraes in the other semifinal.
"If he was not ready to play, he would not be here," Santos told reporters on Tuesday.
"Regardless of his age, we saw what he is capable of and if he was called, and is part of the 23-man squad and that many other top players have escaped the pbad, it means we are ready to replace it. "
At the start of the season, Benfica only used Joao Felix moderately, but his fortunes changed when coach Rui Vitoria was sacked in January and replaced by Bruno Lage, who immediately ran.
"One of the first things I decided was to give the boy a chance to play," Lage said in an interview last month.
He quickly found that Joao Felix was well connected to Haris Seferovic, who is expected to lead the Swiss attack on Wednesday.
The highlight was when he became the youngest player to score a hat trick in the Europa League with three goals in the quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt.
When he plays against the Swiss on Wednesday, Joao Felix will team up with Cristiano Ronaldo, a 15-year-old player, who himself played for Portugal in adolescence during the presentation. Euro 2004 and who lost in the final against Greece.
(Written by Brian Homewood, edited by Toby Davis)
Source link
