In many ways, Portugal’s participation at the 2022 European Championships has been defined by comebacks. Following the exclusion of Russia, it was only in May that their place at the tournament was confirmed. And as the second-lowest ranked side at the Euros, at least according to FIFA, the Seleção naturally arrived with an outsider status.
Being 2–0 down after less than five minutes in their competition opener against Switzerland did not help but again, Portugal managed to re-enter and deservedly accomplished a comeback. The team coached by Francisco Neto were the better side on Saturday and showcased, as on previous occasions, that they are an interesting group with interesting players and interesting ideas.
For one, the squad includes talents like the Benfica duo of Catarina Amado and Kika Nazareth, Marítimo striker Telma Encarnação or superb Servette goalkeeper Inês Pereira. But there is also more established quality from the likes of Carole Costa, Tatiana Pinto or Jéssica Silva.
An agonizing loss has been the injury of Andreia Jacinto, given how influential the 20-year-old midfield maestra already is for club and country. After being crowned the Liga BPI’s ‘Jogadora revelação’ for her performances with Sporting, the new recruit of Real Sociedad would have been one of the tournament’s players to watch.
Without her, Portugal obviously lost playmaking possibilities but it has not deterred them from an encouraging approach in possession.
The Diamond
From a nominal 4–3–1–2, the side prioritizes a patient build-up. Both fullbacks, Amado and Joana Marchão, stay low at first before progressing with pivot Dolores Silva occasionally dropping too. In front of them, Tatiana Pinto and Andreia Norton are able to pull wide and attract pressure to open spaces in behind as Portugal consistently aim to find one of the wide-moving Jéssica and Ana Borges with long passes or through combinations while Diana Silva drifts and drops as a mobile number 10.
These balls can also be delivered from one of the centre-backs. Sporting Braga’s Diana Gomes in particular impressed as a distributor, besides scoring the team’s first goal and providing an ardent defensive performance.
Moreover, the Portuguese midfield was also capable of remaining narrow and pinning the Swiss side in central areas. In combination with their opponent’s 4–4–1–1/4–4–2 shape (Coumba Sow could be in the first line or staggered behind Bachmann) and the inherent spacing of the diamond, both fullbacks were afforded a lot of time and space on the ball.
That structural choice synthesizes very well with the profiles at Neto’s disposal. The fullback duo of Amado and Marchão are prime progressors and using these capabilities to the full extent can only benefit the team.
Joana Marchão in particular is superb on the ball, shining with her press-resistance and ability to dribble and combine. Going forward, the 25-year-old also created a respectable four chances against Switzerland.
Said initial overload in the first line also secures that Portugal have a firm rest-defense while the narrow structure generally enables effective counterpressing in central areas. However, it can also reduce their presence in higher areas and slow down progression or creativity. A slight but positive adjustment was the situational back-three which saw one of Amado or Marchão move into the second line.
While still having a numerical advantage against Switzerland’s first line and options to combine, direct combinations with and between the narrow strike partnership become easier.
Regarding midfield inspiration, Andreia Norton is vivid in possession. From time to time, she would drop into the second line alongside Dolores and act as a connective player.
Overall, the new Benfica signing completed an astonishing eight dribbles against both Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Still, Portugal have room for improvement in terms of their creativity from open play. Positive sequences resulted from left-sided overloads, sometimes followed by low switches to the more or less vacated right flank.
Another variation in the final third sees one of the fluid front three drift to the touchline to either engage the respective Swiss fullback or dribble at them before serving a runner through the channel.
Whereas the defensive implications of their attacking structure are solid, Portugal’s diamond has its familiar advantages and downsides against the ball. Compact centrally but at times underloaded in wide areas and vulnerable to switches. They’ve also conceded from set-pieces, an element which has emerged as a major strength on the opposite end of the pitch.
Creativity from Set-Pieces
While the promising parts of the Portuguese build-up play wouldn’t always reap rewards, their threat from dead-ball situations was differential for the second-half resurrection. A stunning 1.77 Expected Goals (80.1%) of their accumulated xG value of 2.21 resulted from set-pieces and so did the first goal.
The basic setup on corners approximately looked like this. Perhaps having a disadvantage in direct aerial duels, Portugal refused to immediately overload the box. Instead, they used smart movements and dynamic runs to pin back and disrupt the Swiss structure.
The rather zonal orientation of their opponents near the six-yard box enabled at least two players to remain free in the back zone and finish from there.
Above all, Portugal have been brilliant at creating space within the penalty area. While one player would pin a Swiss counterpart at the near post, two could accelerate towards there from the center, drawing their opponents with them and creating gaps to exploit in the center and on the far post.
Frequently, that teammate on the far post could steal herself away on the blindside of a Swiss player while the Portuguese countermovements caused chaos, no matter if the delivery came from Marchão or Borges.
What made this so effective was that the runs towards divergent directions pulled Switzerland to one side or opened them up while significantly reducing possible aerial shortcomings.
Further, the shown structure enabled Portugal to recycle possession if the first ball in was unsuccessful. While up to three players protected the center, one wider option on the far side could collect the ball and put in another cross. In said instance, Portugal’s dynamic runs were once again on show.
For once, Portugal also tried a short variation. Already zooming in on the close option nearby the corner taker, two Swiss players were taken out of the situation as Marchão could receive near the edge of the box.
Lastly, Portugal also created two similar chances from freekicks. Once again, it was Marchão who performed as provider, clearly searching for Diana Silva’s movements in behind.
As so often in international tournaments, a considerable amount of goals at the Euros have come via set-plays. Therefore, Portugal’s emphasis on these situations and creative approach towards them was not only reasonable a priori but could continue to provide the team with a meaningful advantage, whether that be in tight encounters or for a lack of open-play opportunities.
A psychological victory
At the time of writing this passage, Portugal have lost their second group match versus the Netherlands. One more time, they replicated their missteps and heroics from the opening match, returning from another 0–2 position before surrendering 3–2 against the defending European champions.
Progressing into the knockout stages now truly has the semblance of a mountainous task. But beyond that, the Seleção managed to impress through their personnel, playing idea and comeback spirit despite missing a midfield conductor. If anything, their Euro campaign so far has exemplified the potential that lies within Portuguese women’s football. It can be tiresome and misleading to talk about female players as inspirations, it should be sufficient that they simply play football. Nothing special should have to be done to receive just conditions.
But hopefully, this encouraging performance engineers the path to a fully professionalized domestic setup. While the Primeira Divisão already has a lot to offer, from champions Benfica, rivals Sporting and teams like Famalicão to talents such as Jacinto or Amado and managerial gifts in the form of Mariana Cabral, it remains underfunded. There is so much room to grow and it should be taken seriously.
The talent is there, allow them to shine and more to come.
