Portugal is shining; however, Rafael Leao is not finding his footing in the national team jersey – for now. His performance so far in the European Championship has disappointed many, and to make up for it, he will have to wait for the round of 16, as he will miss the match against Georgia due to two yellow cards. At the European Championship, the only noteworthy moment in Leao’s game was a run down the left side and a cross into the middle, to Bernardo Silva, who wouldn’t have scored without the help of a poor intervention from a Turkish player. In both matches, Leao received a yellow card – in the same minute, for the same reason – simulation. In the 108 minutes he spent on the field in the first two rounds, Leao recorded one successful dribble and one shot – off target.AC Milan’s Rafael Leao’s father is reportedly set to meet with Al Hilal management to discuss a potential transfer for the Portuguese winger.[📷 via: @acmilan ]#yallaRSL | #RoshnSaudiLeague | @SPL_EN pic.twitter.com/2YzmW3KHDu— Arab News | Sport (@ArabNewsSport) June 23, 2024 The Rossoneri’s number ten underperformed in his first two appearances for Portugal. Although the team, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, secured all six points and thus guaranteed first place in Group F, Leao was merely a silent observer in both matches. He started both games in the starting eleven but was substituted before the 90th minute in both instances. In the first match, he was substituted in the 63rd minute, and he finished the match against Turkey after just one half. A potential threat to Leao’s position could come from the bench in the match against Georgia. Pedro Neto, Diogo Jota, and Joao Felix are names that, with a good performance against the newcomer at the European Championship, could easily take Leao’s place in the starting eleven.CR7 and the Navigators give Turkiye a cold shower and proceed to the knockout stagesItalian coach Fabio Capello tried to explain why the Portuguese striker is struggling at the European Championship.”We won’t have the opportunity to watch him in the next match, and he was substituted at halftime in the game against Turkey. His problem is that in Italy, the pace of play is very slow, so his speed creates significant problems. Here, however, as we have seen, the game is played at a high and fast pace with players who have quality and good dribbling skills. In Italy, Leao is a dribbler, and it’s hard to find a player who dribbles like him. However, it’s completely different at the European Championship” Capello emphasized.𝙋𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙜𝙖𝙡 🇵🇹Joias de Portugal do #FC24 presente na Euro 2024! 🌟💎🇵🇹 António Silva – 79/87 📉🇵🇹 Gonçalo Inácio – 80/87 📉🇵🇹 João Neves – 77/88 📉🇵🇹 Pedro Neto – 79/83 📉🇵🇹 Rafael Leão – 86/89 📉 pic.twitter.com/u9SAthHPLz— 𝙁𝙄𝙁𝘼𝙅𝙀𝙁𝙁 (@fifajeff_) June 24, 2024 Leao has yet to earn the trust of Roberto Martinez and Milan’s new strategist, Paulo Fonseca. He has completely fallen into the shadow of big names like Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo. It is no wonder that Fonseca is preparing to travel to Portugal’s training camp to get acquainted with his team’s number ten, a player who is certainly a focus of Milan’s project for the coming year. Milan has secured its star, setting a clause at 175,000,000 euros and will not consider offers below 100,000,000. There have been rumours about Saudi Arabia, specifically Al Hilal, but so far, there have been no concrete offers. PSG has lost Mbappe, so they will soon have to decide who will take the Frenchman’s role and jersey.When a player is more interesting than the match itselfLeao had an excellent season with the Milan giant, scoring 15 goals and providing 14 assists. He was a scorer in the group stage of the Champions League and three times in the knockout phase of the Europa League. However, the national team jersey does not seem to suit him, as he has scored only 4 goals in 29 appearances for the Portugal national team. The next match for the Portuguese national team is on Wednesday against Georgia in Gelsenkirchen.EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP – GROUP STAGETuesday 19.00: (2.30) Netherlands (3.45) Austria (3.30)19.00: (1.33) France (5.70) Poland (10.5)22.00: (1.42) England (4.70) Slovenia (9.00)22.00: (2.30) Denmark (3.45) Serbia (3.50)Wednesday 19.00: (3.30) Slovakia (2.05) Romania (3.85)19.00: (5.60) Ukraine (3.90) Belgium (1.70)22.00: (7.80) Georgia (5.20) Portugal (1.43)22.00: (2.65) Czech R. (3.40) Turkey (2.80)***odds are subject to change***
