Portugal vs Finland prediction: WORLD: Friendly International betting tips on match 2024-06-03 18:45.
[p]Following a perfect 11-game start to life as Portugal manager, Roberto MartĂnez was left frustrated in their friendly against Slovenia in March as his star-studded side fell to their first defeat under the Spaniard (2-0). He’ll hope to get them back to winning ways here as they enter a crucial preparation period ahead of the UEFA European Championships, a tournament they won as recently as 2016.[/p]
[p]Portugal are unsurprisingly among the favourites once again, but there is the small matter of three friendlies on home soil, beginning here at Sporting Lisbon’s Estádio José Alvalade before their jaunt to Germany. Hopes are high that they can begin with a bang against Finland, a nation they have faced ten times previously and lost to just once (W5, D4, L1), with all five H2H victories accompanied by clean sheets.[/p]
[p]Visiting boss Markku Kanerva lost his only prior meeting with a MartĂnez-managed side (Belgium) at Euro 2020, although that remains the only finals tournament that Finland have ever qualified for. They came painfully close to repeating the feat of qualifying this time round, but a play-off semi-final defeat to Wales ultimately ended their dreams. [/p]
[p]On a positive note, the Scandinavians have a UEFA Nations League B campaign to look forward to from September onwards, so facing the best is crucial for their own preparations. Those preparations have been damaged in a big way for this clash however, as former Rangers man Glen Kamara has been ruled out through injury, which will likely put even more pressure on the likes of their all-time top scorer, Teemu Pukki (G40).[/p]
[p]Key battle: It came as little surprise to see the most-capped player in men’s international football history, Cristiano Ronaldo, called up once again having scored 128 goals in 206 caps for his beloved Portugal. Trying to stop him will be the formidable Finland captain, Lukas Hradecky, who kept a distant Bundesliga-high 15 clean sheets in 2023/24 for Bayer Leverkusen, who completed arguably the greatest feat in German football history this season by winning both domestic cups without tasting defeat. [/p]
[p]Hot streak: Portugal haven’t played out a draw in 23 internationals (W18, L5), while Finland haven’t recorded a stalemate in any of their last 14 (W7, L7). [/p]