Cancelo eyes bringing Portugal's 'curse' to an end

Matt Doherty of the Republic of Ireland in action against João Cancelo of Portugal. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

A mismatch on paper at least, central to Portugal’s motivation for winning on Thursday is ending what João Cancelo derides as the curse of Dublin.

Ireland hold the upper hand in the home record books against the aristocrats, who’ve failed to win at Lansdowne Road since a friendly in 1996.

Cancelo, at 32, admits this is his last crack at peaking this generation with the elusive World Cup trophy.

He doesn’t foresee Ireland delaying that automatic path to Brazil on Thursday despite their first misstep in October.

“I didn't know about our record in Ireland, but let's do it this Thursday and end this curse,” said the former Manchester United defender, currently operating in the same Saudi Pro League club, with Al Hilal, as his compatriot and captain Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We are one of the best national teams in the world, and there's no hiding it.

“Individually, we have a lot of quality, and the objective will be to leave Ireland with three points and secure direct qualification for the World Cup.

“I was expecting us to qualify in the last game against Hungary but football doesn't work that way. We struggled late on against Hungary and were penalised for 25 minutes that were less than ideal. We want to turn things around against Ireland.

“If I won the World Cup, I'd leave the national team; finishing on a high note is always better. If I don't win, I'll try again until I win again.” 

Injury kept Cancelo out of last month’s meeting with Ireland but he’s likely to deputise for Roberto Martinez’s latest casualty Nuno Mendes at left-back.

Meanwhile, Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg has been appointed to take charge of tomorrow’s sold-out penultimate qualifier. 

He’s an experienced Champions League whistler and last took charge of Ireland for the home Euro 2024 qualifier 2-0 defeat to Greece two years ago.