Familiar face Seferovic aiming to break Portugal hearts in Nations League
With the domestic season over, attention turns back to the international stage with the UEFA Nations League semi-finals taking place this week. The Women’s World Cup kicks off this week too, while the AFCON, Copa America and U21 Euros are still to come, but the culmination of the competition that started last year will see one of Portugal, Switzerland, the Netherlands or England crowned inaugural champions.
Hosts Portugal will of course fancy their chances of landing silverware this month, but home advantage isn’t a factor the Selecao can simply rely upon. Player for player, Portugal have a better squad than semi-final opponents Switzerland, but having topped a group containing Belgium and Iceland, smashing the former 5-2 to progress as winners, the Rossocrociati aren’t to be underestimated.
Indeed, it’s a familiar face who could end Portugal’s Nations League hopes this week and having finished the season with 23 league goals, Haris Seferovic will hope to take his fine league form into the international stage once more. The striker scored more goals (5) than any other player in group two, while his 23 goals was more than any other Liga NOS player.
A goal every 85.6 minutes was a fine return in Portugal’s top tier for the 27-year-old, whose task now is to fire Switzerland to silverware. With a meeting with Portugal looming, Seferovic and Switzerland can take solace from the fact the striker will be facing off against recognisable foes. Fernando Santos may elect to partner the experienced Pepe with Ruben Dias at the heart of the defence on Thursday, though Jose Fonte is also an option for the Portugal boss.
Seferovic provided the assist for Joao Felix’s equaliser in Benfica’s 2-1 win at FC Porto in March, a defeat Pepe played the full 90 minutes in, while the striker will be familiar with club teammate Dias’ style of play and, if the 22-year-old does start; Seferovic hopes to exploit his lack of experience on the international stage.
That said, even if Xherdan Shaqiri is fit to feature form the off this week, the creative talent in support of Seferovic on the international stage pales in comparison to that in Liga NOS. Rafa, Pizzi, Felix and Andre Almeida are able support acts for the striker for Benfica, while Alejandro Grimaldi arguably offers more from full-back than Swiss duo Ricardo Rodriguez and Kevin Mbabu.
Two of the three best assist-to-goalscorer combinations in Liga NOS last season were Grimaldo to Seferovic and Almeida to Seferovic, both of which returned five goals apiece. By comparison, five different players provided for each of Seferovic’s five goals in group two and while a healthy spread of creators is no bad thing, a lack of consistent attacking partner in crime could very well come back to haunt Switzerland.
As one of the more experienced members of the Switzerland squad, there is ample pressure on Seferovic to fire this Swiss side to success this summer, but given his UEFA Nations League goalscoring record, he is one who can shoulder the burden with ease. Having enjoyed a fine campaign in Portugal, it could be that the striker wrecks any hopes the Selecao has of writing their name into the history books later this week.
