3 Things Portugal Should Test in Friendly vs. Estonia

Thursday’s 1-0 defeat to England at Wembley might have ended in miserable fashion for the visiting Portuguese thanks to Chris Smalling’s late winner, but it would have given coach Fernando Santos plenty of food for thought ahead of the Euro 2016 finals.

With the final week of preparations now coming into view, Santos will look to use Wednesday’s friendly against Estonia in Lisbon as the final chance to put plans into place for his assault on Group F.

Iceland, Austria and Hungary are opponents in France for a Portuguese side seemingly travelling with very little expectation, and after a largely impressive defensive display in London following Bruno Alves’ first-half red card, it’ll be attack on the agenda against Estonia in the nation’s capital.

Here are three things that Santos might want to check out.

An Attacking Quartet of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Quaresma, Nani and Renato Sanches

IAN KINGTON/Getty Images

Still recovering from a Champions League final in which he seemed to spend most of his time grimacing and looking at the big screen until his winning penalty in the shootout, Cristiano Ronaldo will return to action for his country in Lisbon, and not before time.

They were obviously hampered by the red card, but Portugal failed to muster a single shot on target against England at Wembley, per the BBC. Home goalkeeper Joe Hart was reduced to the role of spectator in what was a fairly dull spectacle.

With Ronaldo available again for the Estonia clash, Santos should use him in a central role, flanked by Portugal’s other attacking talents.

Nani started at Wembley and was largely ineffective, but he deserves another shot against Estonia, when he should be visible cutting in from the right-hand side.

On the left, Ricardo Quaresma offered a decent late cameo on Thursday night and should be picked again, with the Besiktas winger looking to replicate the fine goal he scored in the previous warm-up match at home to Norway.

And given that Portugal will be expected to go on the attack in their group matches at the Euros, how about fielding the exciting teenager Renato Sanches behind the front three, from where he can look to link up with Ronaldo and cause havoc to the visiting defence?

It is a quartet that could damage any side, and trying them out together here could prove invaluable.

A Centre-Back Pairing of Ricardo Carvalho and Jose Fonte

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

After they kept a clean sheet in the 3-0 win over Norway, the Ricardo Carvalho-Jose Fonte central-defensive partnership was broken up for the trip to Wembley—and you didn’t need to be kicked in the face a la Harry Kane to see that it didn’t work out too well.

Due to his consistency at Southampton, Fonte deserves to be the first-choice pick alongside Carvalho in France, and the centre-back partnership with a combined age of 70 should be given a final chance to prepare for the finals by Santos.

Carvalho seems to be retaining his consistency despite advancing in years, and there is a calmness and experience to his play that suggests his lack of pace won’t be a problem in the finals due to his intelligent positioning.

Similarly, Fonte has shown leadership skills from his captaincy at Southampton, and he’s got no problem imposing himself on the international stage.

Where Alves seems to be on the decline following a fine career, Fonte looks to have been building towards this stage, and he deserves to be trusted by both his manager and his nation.

90 Minutes for Joao Moutinho

Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images

After 55 minutes against Norway and then 73 against England, the midfielder Joao Moutinho has seemingly been building up his fitness levels to a point where he could last the full 90 minutes.

The Monaco man had an inconsistent end to his campaign, playing just five times in Ligue 1 since the end of February due to injuries, but if he is to be the player that Santos wants him to be in the Euros, then he’s going to need a good platform to build upon.

The full 90 minutes against Estonia could be just that, especially if he is utilised in a midfield trio with Sanches and one of Danilo Pereira or William Carvalho screening behind them.

In that system, Moutinho could be given the time and space to get on the ball and make things happen, supplying the bullets for those ahead of him to fire.

Now 29 and once regarded as one of the best players in his position in Europe, this might be the last tournament that the midfielder can make a truly sustained impact at, and he’ll be desperate to make up for Portugal’s failures of the recent past.