Portugal and Paris Saint-German man Danilo Pereira is set to miss the remainder of his nation’s group stage games after fracturing ribs in training.
Fernando Santos’ side are due to face off against Uruguay on Monday at Lusail Stadium, before finishing up their group stage campaign against South Korea on 2nd December at the Education City Stadium.
Cabine Desportiva are reporting that Danilo fractured ribs in a training session following Portugal’s opening game win over Ghana – a game which the player started.
Having played as a centre-back in that game, as opposed to playing in midfield as he’s accustomed to, meaning that Santos will be left with very few options to choose from in defence moving forward.
One option for Santos would be the highly-rated Antonio Silva. The 19-year-old has burst onto the scene this season at Benfica and looks set to be a star of the future for Portugal having made his senior debut for his nation earlier this year.
Portugal’s other centre-back option to partner Ruben Dias would be 39-year-old Pepe. The veteran has 129 caps to his name and has bagged a surprising six of those this year alone.
Credit: 90min.com
