Joao Cancelo joins Ronaldo and Joao Mario on Portugal national team

Portugal men’s national team coach Fernando Santos has picked Inter Milan defender Joao Cancelo to the national squad for its friendlies with the Netherlands and Egypt.

Cancelo has played with Portugal’s U16, U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21 teams along with six appearances with the senior side.

He will join the team with midfielder Joao Mario who is currently on loan from Inter to West Ham United.

He debuted with the national team in a friendly against Gibraltar in September 2016. He scored a goal in Portugal’s 5-0 win on the road.

Cancelo also played in Portugal’s World Cup qualification group matches in 2016. He scored goals against Andorra and the Faroe Islands in the group stage.

During the 2017 Confederations Cup, Cancelo was with the U21 squad. He was injured during Portugal’s second round of World Cup qualification matches but did play for the national team in a 3-0 win against Saudi Arabia in November 2017.

In all, he has been on the senior squad for eight matches.

Cancelo has started to find a place on Luciano Spalletti’s squad, playing in the last 10 matches after sitting on the bench in the three previous matches. Cancelo joined the Nerazzurri last summer on loan from Spanish side Valencia.

Portugal is ranked No. 3 in FIFA’s world rankings behind Germany and Brazil. Their game with Egypt will be March 23 in Zurich and they will face the Netherlands in Geneva four days later.

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