No Dice, Sporting: South Americans to Arrive Just Before Braga Clash

There's nothing to be done. It's an international break, meaning players are committed to their national teams until the window closes. Sporting had explored options to get their South American players (who have later games and longer travel) back sooner before their trip to SC Braga. However, Uruguay and Colombia are counting on Maxi Araújo, Zalazar, and Luis Suárez for all three of their friendly fixtures.

Uruguay's first match is in Japan on Thursday. They then head to Seoul to play South Korea on Monday, followed by a trip to India, where they face the local team in Kolkata on October 6th – just three days before the away game in Braga. On October 13th, Sporting has a Champions League fixture in France against Lens.

Colombia will play Mexico (Saturday, in Chicago), Paraguay (October 3rd, in New Jersey), and Peru (October 7th, in Miami). This schedule means the South American trio will be racing against the clock to return to Portugal, potentially arriving only the day before the match, and then immediately traveling to the Minho region.