Set for Portugal-Chile, Martínez gets bad news over Sporting star | OneFootball

Last Friday, in a press conference previewing the friendly against Chile, the first preparation match for the 2026 World Cup, Roberto Martínez revealed that Matheus Nunes will be an "unexpected" absentee for this Saturday’s game.

According to the national team coach, Matheus Nunes did not train last Thursday, with the Manchester City full-back feeling unwell. Along with the former Sporting player - who leads the historic ranking - João Félix also appears not to have taken part in the training session two days ago, but only one of them is out of the coach’s squad.

"In football, nothing is certain. We always work preparing for or expecting the unexpected. Unfortunately, Matheus Nunes is still not fit enough to train, so he is out of the squad list. This is not the time to take risks; we hope he will be fine for the second game against Nigeria," said Roberto Martínez.

As for Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammate at Al Nassr, the coach said: "João Félix trained, but we made a decision after training. I think it is a different situation, and I feel it is positive and he will be fit to play tomorrow," he stated, without guarantees.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.