Portugal vs. Norway: Date, Time, TV Schedule and Live Stream for 2016 Friendly
Portugal will start their final preparations for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2016 tournament with a friendly against Norway on Sunday, at Porto's Estadio do Dragao.
The hosts will be without star forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who played in Saturday's UEFA Champions League final with Real Madrid against Atletico Madrid. But Portugal are still expected to cruise past a Norwegian team that lost to Hungary in the Euro play-offs.
Per Sport Witness' Jan Hagen, Portugal manager Fernando Santos didn't seem too concerned with the opposition:
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Here's everything you need to know about Sunday's clash.
Time: 8:45 p.m. BST (3:45 p.m. ET)
Venue: Estadio do Dragao, Porto
TV Info: The match will be broadcast on BeIN Sports USA and FuboTV.
Live Stream: BeIN Sports Connect, FuboTV
Preview
Portugal will enter the upcoming Euros among the favourites to win the title, powered by a handful of veteran stars and a new generation of incredible talents. Those youngsters made a big impression in the friendly against Belgium, a 2-1 win, and they're expected to do the same against Norway.
The Norwegians haven't qualified for a major international tournament since Euro 2000, and while they finished just one point below Croatia during the Euro qualifiers, their two losses to Hungary highlighted their lack of quality.
Ricardo Quaresma, one of Portugal's older stars, has urged his team-mates not to grow complacent, however, as he wants the squad to start the tournament in optimal form. As reported by FourFourTwo, he said:
"We lack titles. Germany, France, Spain have won titles, so we can't compare ourselves with those teams. We have to keep working and show where we want to get.
We're confident and we have a clear head. The group is fantastic. We have a great motivation and a great team spirit. We have to get to the Euros in the best condition.
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Consistency has been Portugal's biggest issue. The team looked fantastic in the friendly against Belgium―who admittedly fielded mostly backups―and easily handled Luxembourg as well, but in losses to Russia and Bulgaria, Santos' troops played flat and uninspired football.
With Ronaldo not playing, Santos will have the opportunity to see which secondary stars can step up in his absence, per Bleacher Report's Mark Jones:
"Portugal are likely to face a do-or-die moment at some point in France, and history has shown they can’t just sit back and pray Ronaldo comes up trumps for them.
A good win against Norway with decent displays from their raft of impressive young players would be most welcome, and it might even bring a cheer from a certain someone watching on from Madrid.
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With Bernardo Silva missing the tournament, the onus will be on the likes of Quaresma and Nani to provide creative flashes, while behind those two, Valencia's Andre Gomes and Bayern Munich's Renato Sanches are but two of a host of strong options.
Sporting's William Carvalho and team-mate Joao Mario will also be battling for a spot in the starting XI―expect all to get plenty of minutes against Norway.
The Scandinavians are without Omar Elabdellaoui and Alexander Tettey, and star midfielder Havard Nordtveit is a question mark due to illness, per FourFourTwo. On paper, they shouldn't present much of a challenge, so don't expect Santos to treat the match as a must-win.
The upcoming friendly against England will provide the team with a good look at their form―Sunday's match will be about testing formations and handing plenty of players the chance to impress.
