Contrary to what happened in the preparation for the game with Poland, in which the team gave up training the day before on Polish soil, as they only arrived at the end of the day in Warsaw, Portugal arrived yesterday morning in Glasgow and has already worked on Scotland two days away from tomorrow’s duel at 7:45 pm, in the 4th round of Group A1 of the Nations League, at the mythical Hampden Park. The elements most used by Roberto Martínez – starters, Francisco Trincão and Diogo Jota, who played around 30 minutes in the 3-1 victory over Poland – only did recovery work in the facilities of the hotel where the Portuguese delegation is staying, while the rest of the squad took to the pitch at SMiSA Stadium, owned by St. Louis. Mirren (currently 6th in the local championship) and located in the city of Paisley, about 20 kilometers from the center of Glasgow. This was the ‘general headquarters’ chosen by the FPF for the Selection on those two days. Tomás Araújo, João Palhinha and Francisco Conceição, excluded from the squad for the game against Poland due to technical choice, were three of the players who worked under the very low temperatures (around 6 degrees) that have been felt at this time in Scotland, with the vast majority using gloves and turtlenecks to protect themselves.
Today, Roberto Martínez’s men will once again prepare for the clash at the same location, also in the afternoon, at 5:30 pm, with official training. The pre-game press conference with Scotland will be held in the same space but an hour earlier, starting at 4:30 pm, with the national coach and a designated player being present in the room to answer questions posed by journalists.
By Francisco Guerra
