Two new caps for Portugal under new coach Bento

By foxsports
Published

Toulouse midfielder Paulo Machado and Sporting Lisbon rightback Joao Pereira earned their first callups from new Portugal coach Paulo Bento on Friday, and Cristiano Ronaldo was back for the two Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Machado and Pereira played in Portugal's youth teams.

Ronaldo was available after missing Portugal's disastrous start to its qualifying campaign when it collected just one point from its first two matches in Group H.

Portugal needs to restore its fortunes by beating Denmark and Iceland, but Bento said he won't be asking too much of the Real Madrid star.

"Just because he's the captain and one of the world's best players doesn't mean he has to sort out all our problems," Bento said.

Benfica midfielder Carlos Martins and Sporting Lisbon forward Helder Postiga earned recalls.

Portugal was lackluster in a 1-0 loss at Norway and a 4-4 draw at home against lowly Cyprus in its opening matches. The winless run constituted Portugal's worst start to a qualifying campaign since 1996.

Former coach Carlos Queiroz, who was fired last month, sat out those two games after being suspended for misconduct.

The Portuguese Football Federation tried unsuccessfully to hire Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho as an interim coach for its next qualifiers but the Spanish club rebuffed the approach.

Portugal hosts Denmark at Porto's Stadium of the Dragon on Oct. 8 and plays Iceland away four days later.

Roster:

Goalkeepers: Eduardo (Genoa), Beto (FC Porto), Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon).

Defenders: Joao Pereira (Sporting Lisbon), Silvio (Braga), Rolando (FC Porto), Ricardo Carvalho (Real Madrid), Bruno Alves (Zenith), Fabio Coentrao (Benfica).

Midfielders: Paulo Machado (Toulouse), Carlos Martins (Benfica), Joao Moutinho (FC Porto), Pepe (Real Madrid), Miguel Veloso (Genoa), Raul Meireles (Liverpool), Tiago (Atletico Madrid).

Strikers: Varela (FC Porto), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Danny (Zenith), Liedson (Sporting Lisbon), Helder Postiga (Sporting Lisbon), Nani (Manchester United), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen).