Euro 2022: A guide to the Portugal team

Euro 2022 is taking place at 10 venues across England between 6-31 July. Portugal, who lost to Russia in the play-offs for the tournament, were announced as their late replacement in May. They are in Group C, along with the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Football journalist turned coach Mariana Cabral, whose team Sporting Lisbon finished second in Portugal's top flight this season, assesses Portugal's chances this summer.

How will Portugal do?

We landed on a parachute to the Euros. We weren't expecting it, but I do believe Portugal can take what has happened in a positive way.

We are still in the very early stages of development. We have great players but most of our players are very young. This will be another opportunity for growth like the first time we qualified for the Euros in 2017.

I'm pretty sure they will want to do better than the first time at the Euros. We have a team that is very well organised defensively, that is hard to beat, but we need to do a little bit more offensively.

It is great news just to be there, but I don't think the Portuguese coach and the players will be happy with just that - they will want to do a bit more.

Who is the manager?

Francisco Neto is a very talented coach. He knows women's football in Portugal inside out, he knows his players very well and he's very experienced.

He likes to have a really strong core of players and doesn't change that strong base much.

Portugal are a team that have very good defensive organisation, are really focused on restricting their opponents' scoring chances and then, whenever they can, try to hurt them.

They try to have as many players as they can in the midfield, because the Portuguese players are technically very gifted, but sometimes lack a bit of physical intensity.

Who is the star player?

Ana Borges won a league and cup double with Chelsea in 2015 before moving back to Portugal in December 2016

It's difficult to say because Portugal have a few players that are important for the playing style, but it's more of a collective than a star player.

Ana Borges, 32, is a very good player. Coincidentally she is a Sporting Lisbon player - on my team - but that's not why I picked her! Usually she plays as a winger, but Portugal sometimes don't play with wingers so she plays as a forward, or she can also play at right-back.

She used to play for Chelsea, so is one of the more experienced players that Portugal has and she has a lot of qualities.

Who is the rising star?

We have players that are still very young but are very gifted. Andrea Jacinto, 20, is a midfielder with so much class. She is so intelligent, she can put the ball anywhere.

Another young player who is very good is Kika Nazareth, 19. She is also very creative, like a traditional number 10. She dribbles a lot and can create chances for others.

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Rute Costa (Famalicao), Patricia Morais (Braga), Ines Pereira (Servette).

Defenders: Catarina Amado (Benfica), Mariana Azevedo (Famalicao), Carole (Benfica), Alicia Correia (Sporting Lisbon), Diana Gomes (Braga), Joana Marchao (Sporting Lisbon), Silvia Rebelo (Benfica).

Midfielders: Andreia Faria (Benfica), Andreia Jacinto (Sporting Lisbon), Vanessa Marques (Braga), Kika Nazareth (Benfica), Andreia Norton (Braga), Fatima Pinto (Sporting Lisbon), Tatiana Pinto (Levante), Dolores Silva (Braga).

Forwards: Ana Borges (Sporting Lisbon), Carolina Mendes (Braga), Diana Silva (Sporting Lisbon), Jessica Silva (Benfica), Telma Encarnacao (Maritimo).