Rúben Dias, Gedson and Pizzi on Fernando Santos' list

Rúben Dias, Gedson and Pizzi are on Fernando Santos' list for the matches against Croatia (friendly) and Italy (Round 1 of the Nations League).  With three players, Benfica is the most represented club.

Gedson was one of the new arrivals on Fernando Santos’ list. The player Made in Caixa Futebol Campus, is one of the new faces among Rui Vitória’s squad and now in the National Team too.

After 59 caps – 8 with the U20s, 16 with the U19s, 30 with the U17s, 3 with the U16s and 2 with the U15s –, the 19-year old midfielder deserves the trust of Fernando Santos.

For Rúben Dias it is no longer a debut. As a consequence of a dream season, the 20-year old center-back was included, in March, by the National Coach Fernando Santos in the 23-man list for the 2018 World Cup.

But Gedson and Rúben Dias are not the only Made in Benfica of the list: Cancelo, Mário Rui, Renato Sanches, Bernardo Silva, Gonçalo Guedes and Rony Lopes, are the other six players, trained in Benfica’s academy, to be present.

Pizzi is back. The Benfica’s midfielder, at the moment the top scorer of Liga NOS, with four goals, and with a tremendous start of season also got the “ticket”. After 9 caps with the National Team, he is back.

The match against the world vice-champions is scheduled for September 6, at 7:45 pm, at Estádio Algarve, while the one against Italy – the start of the Nations Cup – will be held on September 10, at 7:45 pm, at Estádio da Luz.

The 25-man

• Goalkeepers | Beto (Goztepe), Cláudio Ramos (Tondela) and Rui Patrício (Wolverhampton);
• Defenders | Cédric Soares (Southampton), João Cancelo (Juventus), Luís Neto (Zenit), Mário Rui (Napoli), Pedro Mendes (Montpellier), Pepe (Besiktas), Raphael Guerreiro (Dortmund) and Rúben Dias (Benfica);
• Midfielders | Bruno Fernandes (Sporting), Gedson (Benfica), Pizzi (Benfica), Renato Sanches (Bayern), Rúben Neves (Wolverhampton), Sérgio Oliveira (FC Porto) and William Carvalho (Bétis);
• Forwards | André Silva (Seville), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Bruma (Leipzig), Gelson Martins (Atlético Madrid), Gonçalo Guedes (Valencia) and Rony Lopes (Monaco).