PSNL takes a crack at Portugal 23 man roster

Portugal have released their list of 50 potential players that could crack the Portuguese 23 man roster for the World Cup in South Africa. The contest kicks off June 11, 2010 and we here at PSNL have sat down and decided to take a crack at who we think should be on Portugal's squad for the event. There are simple selections that should be included on the squad but when you get down to the final four to five spots an intense debate did break out as is the norm with many fans, in the end coach Carlos Quieroz will have the final say but we have come to our conclusion in case he needs any help and here it is.

Portugal World Cup 2010 Roster:

Goalkeepers- Eduardo (Braga), Quim (Benfica), Daniel Fernandes (Iraklis)

Defense- Bruno Alves (FC Porto), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Rolando (FC Porto), Miguel (Valencia), Pepe (Real Madrid)

Midfielders- Deco (Chelsea), Tiago (Atletico Madrid), Joao Moutinho (Sporting), Raul Meireles (FC Porto), Duda (Malaga), Fabio Coentrao (Benfica), Pedro Mendes (Sporting)

Forwards- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid), Nani (Man United), Liedson (Sporting), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Nuno Assis (Guimaraes), Makukula (Kayserispor)

We know this list may already have some people flying off the handle as some notable names have been omitted from the list but here is our breakdown of the close choices and why we went this way.

Goalkeepers- Quim has played great for Benfica this season and the veteran deserves a spot on the club while Fernandes has 5 clean sheets in just 10 games for middle of the pack Iraklis. Hilario and Beto just have not seen much action this season to be counted and Rui Patricio is prone to the odd bad goal. Ask yourself with all feelings aside who would you want to see in net if Eduardo went down with an injury Quim or Fernandes? or Beto, Hilario or Patricio?

Defense- Pepe was a tough choice to make the list as he has been out so long with injury and his game shape could be questioned but he is a game breaker and got the nod over Ricardo Costa. Miguel's world stage experience got the nod over Joao Pereira but this was by far the hardest choice of the squad.

Midfield- One of Portugal's weaker positions is left back and we should see Quieroz use Duda and possibly Fabio Coentrao in the role. We gave Moutinho the slight nod over Danny with some heated debate and placed Coentrao over Veloso as the youngster has just played better this season then his crosstown rival and is not so opposed to playing the left back role.

Forwards- Makukula on the squad is a no brainer in many ways since Varela injury, he leads a tough Turkish league in scoring with 20 goals more then any other striker on the Portuguese list. Nuno Assis has been Guimaraes best player and Portugal needs another option from the attacking wing he was actually an easy pick for us.

There it is our Portugal squad for World Cup 2010, we do want to give a special mention to some potential future Portugal national players in Pele (Vallodolid), Ruben Amorim (Benfica) and Vieirinha (PAOK) who we discussed and felt that their time is not yet and as their growth continues they should be part of future squads with Pele the teams potential defensive midfield starter. Let us know what you think of our choices in the comments section or tell us what your squad would be.