Announced in January as the successor to Fernando Santos in charge of the 'quinas' team, two months later, the 49-year-old coach will unveil his first choices, in a list in which he himself has already explained that he will be based on participation in the last World Cup, which took place at the end of last year, in Qatar.

Even so, some surprises promise to happen in Martínez's list, with Cristiano Ronaldo appearing at the top of the list of uncertainties, although everything points to the captain continuing with the national team.

The 38-year-old striker lost his starting place in the last World Cup, showing displeasure with that situation, and abandoned top-level football when he headed to Saudi Arabia.

After announcing his unavailability to represent the national team, even during the time of Fernando Santos, Rafa could change his decision with the entry of Roberto Martínez, at a time when he is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career at Benfica.

Pepe, aged 40 and injured at FC Porto, is also an uncertainty, in a list that may have the return of Diogo Jota, who missed the 2022 World Cup due to injury.

The selections of the new national coach will be announced at 12:30 pm, in a press conference, at Cidade do Futebol, in Oeiras.

In the debut of Group J qualifying for Euro2024, which will take place in Germany, Portugal faces Liechtenstein, on March 23, at Estádio José Alvalade, in Lisbon, playing three days later in Luxembourg.

The grouping also includes Iceland, Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Roberto Martínez was chosen by the Portuguese Football Federation to replace Fernando Santos, who left after the World Cup in Qatar, in which the national team reached the quarterfinals.

Santos had been in charge of the team since 2014, having won Euro2016 and the first edition of the Liga nas Nações in 2019.