P W D L F A Pts
UKRAINE 5 4 1 0 11 1 13
PORTUGAL 4 2 2 0 10 4 8
SERBIA 5 2 1 2 10 12 7
LUXEMBOURG 5 1 1 3 5 8 4
LITHUANIA 5 0 1 4 4 15 1
Revelation
RUBEN DIAS
Portugal
Over the last year or so the
obdurate Benfica stopper has
deservedly become an automatic
first choice for the Selecao, thus
breaking up the well-established
central defensive partnership of
Jose Fonte and Pepe.
The 22-year-old is just what
national coach Fernando Santos
needed to fortify his back line,
bringing poise, power, speed
over the ground and vocal
authority to the mix.
Dias clearly loves to be the
commander and many see him
as a future international captain.
“He’s calm, he’s very self-confident, he’s a leader,” said
former Benfica central defender
Ricardo Rocha in an interview
with the O Jogo sports daily.
Taking charge is something
which comes naturally to Dias
and he has captained both the
Portuguese under-19s and
under-20s.
A non-playing member of
Portugal’s squad for the 2018
World Cup in Russia, he was
a collector’s item in that
tournament, surprisingly being
the only Benfica player in the
group – which is remarkable
for the country’s biggest,
most famous club.
Reported to be on the
radar of Manchester City.22.03.19 Portugal-Ukraine 0-0
22.03.19 Luxembourg-Lithuania 2-1
25.03.19 Portugal-Serbia 1-1
25.03.19 Luxembourg-Ukraine 1- 2
07.06.19 Ukraine-Serbia 5-0
07.06.19 Lithuania-Luxembourg 1-1
10.06.19 Ukraine-Luxembourg 1- 0
10.06.19 Serbia-Lithuania 4-1
07.09.19 Lithuania-Ukraine 0-3
07.09.19 Serbia-Portugal 2-410.09.19 Luxembourg-Serbia 1-3
10.09.19 Lithuania-Portugal 1- 5
11.1 0 .19 Ukraine-Lithuania
11.1 0 .19 Portugal-Luxembourg
14 .10 .19 Ukraine-Portugal
14 .10 .19 Lithuania-Serbia
14 .11.19 Serbia-Luxembourg
14 .11.19 Portugal-Lithuania
17.11.19 Serbia-Ukraine
17.11.19 Luxembourg-Portugalespecially impressive when they began
the qualification process by holding the
reigning champions, Portugal, to a
goalless draw in Lisbon.
At the end of the game, Ukraine
coach Andriy Shevchenko singled out
the defender for praise and he certainly
deserved it for an outstanding night’s
work, never budging or flinching as such
talents as Cristiano Ronaldo and Andre
Silva moved menacingly into his zone.
It was a major test that Matviyenkopassed with flying colours.
His development into a promising
international stopper has come as
something of a surprise. He has played
at left-back for much of his career and
as recently as last season was a utility
man for Shakhtar, deployed at right-back,
left-back and in the heart of the defence.
He won his first cap as a left-back in
a World Cup qualifier against Croatia in
March 2017 and less than a year ago had
never played centre-back for Ukraine.GROUP B
Commander...DiasTest...Matviyenko