Selection: Galen «is on the list»; between CR7 and Ramos, the important thing is to «find solutions»
Roberto Martínez praised Galeno, who he acknowledged was on his list of squads; between Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonçalo Ramos, the coach highlighted that there are «solutions»
In addition to a first preview of the double commitment with Slovakia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which could dictate the qualification for Euro 2024 for Portugal, Roberto Martínez also admitted that he is attentive to the progression of Galeno, a player who may be included in future call-ups, and finds no problem in having Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonçalo Ramos in the fight for a place in the attack of the national team. On the contrary: the technician pointed out that the important thing is to «create solutions» to use them.
Sérgio Conceição revealed a few days ago that he spoke with Martínez about Galeno. “Galen is on my list. As a coach, I need to know everything and part of my job is to talk to the coaches, I’ve spoken to Sérgio Conceição and I’ve already spoken to Rúben (Amorim), Roger (Schmidt) and Artur (Jorge). As a club coach, you have unique, very important information. I know that Galeno can be very useful for the national team, I really like the verticality playing for his team, he is versatile and can play on a line of four, or five. I really like what Galeno can do.”
Portugal faces Slovakia after achieving their biggest win ever, against Luxembourg. In that game, he did not have Cristiano Ronaldo; how will you now move again and remove Gonçalo Ramos, who scored two goals in that match? “We need players who have a responsibility, who play well, and who are on the pitch doing what Gonçalo did, like Diogo Jota or Ricardo Horta, they have performed well and are in good form. Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t play against Luxembourg but he played a very important role in the previous games, he scored five goals, and he had a very important presence for us. My decision in the office and about the work with my coaching staff that starts on Monday, for me it’s not about Cristiano or Gonçalo, it’s about finding players in good shape, like them, and finding solutions for them.”