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Southampton: Cedric Soares makes Portugal’s 23-man World Cup squad

By Chris Hughes

WIGAN, ENGLAND - MARCH 18: Cedric Soares of Southampton (L) celebrates as he scores their second goal with Dusan Tadic during The Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final match between Wigan Athletic and Southampton at DW Stadium on March 18, 2018 in Wigan, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
WIGAN, ENGLAND - MARCH 18: Cedric Soares of Southampton (L) celebrates as he scores their second goal with Dusan Tadic during The Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final match between Wigan Athletic and Southampton at DW Stadium on March 18, 2018 in Wigan, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /
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The Southampton right-back has made the cut for his national side, meaning he will be heading to Russia next month to represent Portugal.

The ex-Sporting man has pipped Barcelona’s Nelson Semedo to the 23-man squad, whilst he will instead compete with Ricardo Pereira – Porto’s first-choice full-back who was once reportedly coveted by Tottenham.

It can be seen as good news for Southampton fans, who have previously seen Ryan Bertrand snubbed by Gareth Southgate when the England squad was announced yesterday.

The 26-year-old was part of his national side who surprised us all by winning the European Championship two summers ago – he will hope to impress at this one although his national side are being given much worse odds of winning this time around.

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SWANSEA, WALES – MAY 08: Carlos Carvalhal, Manager of Swansea City shakes hands with Cedric Soares of Southampton during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Southampton at Liberty Stadium on May 8, 2018 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
SWANSEA, WALES – MAY 08: Carlos Carvalhal, Manager of Swansea City shakes hands with Cedric Soares of Southampton during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Southampton at Liberty Stadium on May 8, 2018 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /

Nonetheless, Portugal will still hope for a successful tournament, as it is almost certainly Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup whilst at the top of his game.

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Portugal’s squad includes a good spread of players but among those making their tournament debut is Jose Fonte, who currently plies his trade in China after a fairly unimpressive year at West Ham – it’ll almost certainly be Fonte’s only World Cup as he turns 35 this winter.

His side are placed in Group B for the competition which begins next month, meaning they will face the tough task of coming up against Spain in their opener which means they are already underdogs to finish top of their group.

Cedric will also then have to face Iran and Morocco after five-day gaps, knowing that if they’ve lost to Spain they will need to win both remaining games to have any shot of qualifying for the knockout stages.

From a Southampton fan’s perspective though they may be hoping Cedric doesn’t have the best tournament, with the World Cup renowned for putting players on the map. If the Portuguese international is first-choice and has a good tournament in Russia, reports of his future may soon emerge with Chelsea and Juventus having previously been linked with the full-back.

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