Four return, six out for Portugal

Ricardo Carvalho, Tonel, Miguel Veloso and Duda have all returned for Portugal’s Group A qualifiers in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, with a plague of injuries forcing coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to reshuffle his pack.

Tiago misses out
The Brazilian, serving a three-month suspension from all competitions following incidents at the end of the game against Serbia in Lisbon on 12 September, is unable to call on Jorge Andrade, Marco Caneira, Petit, Hélder Postiga, João Tomás and Pepe through injury while Tiago is overlooked as he is out of favour at Juventus. Six points are imperative for Portugal in Baku on 13 October and Almaty four days later as they sit third in a competitive section, four points behind the leaders Poland with a game in hand. "I will not be on the bench but the players will deal with that," said Scolari, who will not be allowed to go in the team dressing-room, the tunnel, the technical zone or on the pitch.

Portugal squad
Goalkeepers: Ricardo (Real Betis Balompié), Quim (SL Benfica).

Defenders: Miguel (Valencia CF), Bosingwa (FC Porto), Bruno Alves (FC Porto), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea FC), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea FC), Fernando Meira (VfB Stuttgart), Tonel (Sporting Clube de Portugal).

Midfielders: Raul Meireles (FC Porto), Miguel Veloso (Sporting Clube de Portugal), João Moutinho (Sporting Clube de Portugal), Maniche (Club Atlético de Madrid), Duda (Sevilla FC), Deco (FC Barcelona).

Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United FC), Nani (Manchester United FC), Simão (Club Atlético de Madrid), Ricardo Quaresma (FC Porto), Nuno Gomes (SL Benfica), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen).