When a team is going to compete in any kind of competition with the best player in the world playing for them, the other teams have to worry. And that is happening in this World Cup in Brazil, with the Portuguese team led by caoch Paulo Bento and 29-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo. But Portugal isn’t all about Ronaldo, there are other factors that might have an impact in Portugal’s performance in the World Cup.
Portuguese Strengths
Strength #1 – Cristiano Ronaldo in great form
Cristiano Ronaldo is a threat for any team that is going to face him. His physical abilities are what scares the opponents the most, as he can use his speed to make most defenders run after him hopelessly. Ronaldo’s dribbling, passing and shooting skills are outstanding. After all, he is the best player in the world right now, and those skills are sure going to make him the player that Bento is relying on to stand up for his nation. With a moment of individual magic, Ronaldo can make a game do a full 180 turn.
Strength #2 – Direct Free kicks
Yes, Cristiano Ronaldo again! He is simply one of the best when it comes to free kicks (he is even considered to be the best by many people), so yes, free kicks are also one of Portugal’s strenghts, not only because of Cristiano Ronaldo though. Miguel Veloso and João Moutinho are also players that like create something out of a free kick once in a while.
Strength #3 – Converting set pieces into goal
Portugal has been pretty fortunate with set pieces goals, especially headers. João Moutinho often creates great opportunities for his teammates to score, either from corner or free kicks. Portugal was the team that scored most goals from set pieces in qualifying to the World Cup, with 25 percent of their goals coming off the dead ball. Bruno Alves was the player who scored the most for Portugal taking two thirds of the team’s set pieces goals to his personal record.
Strength #4 – Being persistent
The Portuguese team is well known for scoring late in the game. They might remind us of that San Jose Earthquakes “Goonies never say die” mentality. Portugal has a smiley past when it comes to turn a negative score into a tie or even a win, and that is something teams like the USMNT have to be aware of when they play against Portugal. With players that can handle a full game running like they are not even a bit tired, and that Portuguese mentality of leaving it to be sorted out in the end of the match, really makes Portugal a team that never backs down and doesn’t concede points that easy.
Strength #5 – Quick transitions
This is the way Portugal plays in a most-effective way. Winning the ball in their half of the pitch and passing it quickly to one of the flanks (having Ronaldo as the primary target) and then delivering the ball to the box. This is an effective play due to the passing skills of midfielders such as Raul Meireles, Veloso and William Carvalho, but this play is even more effective when there is the Moutinho-Ronaldo combination, like what happened in the playoffs to access the World Cup against Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden, in which Ronaldo scored the 4 goals of the Portuguese 4-2 win on aggregate.
Portuguese Weaknesses
Weakness #1 – Defending the right flank
João Pereira’s defensive skills have been heavily contested by the Portuguese crowd in the past. But the right back as shown some improvement in that aspect since he left Sporting Clube de Portugal and is still a player that will fight for every ball with all his strength. The wingers often get a little bit distracted as well, and sometimes “forget” to help the team defending. That is not happening so often in the left because Cristiano Ronaldo learnt from his own mistakes, but that is still something that happens in the right wing and is probably going to happen more than it was supposed to, since Nani isn’t in a 100% condition to play, so, probably, he won’t play the full 90 minutes of any game – at least in the group stage. Portugal will have to play with other right-wing players as well, and they might not be keen on defending either.
Weakness #2 – Defending corner kicks
Portugal was the third team to concede the biggest amount of goals from corner kicks during the qualifying for the World Cup. They sure are good when it comes to scoring from corner kicks, but being able to score magnificent headers from corner kicks is not going to help them when the opponent is taking them.
Weakness #3 – Scoring from long range
It is hard to talk about something without mentioning Ronaldo, so here he comes. We all remember Cristiano’s goal against Futebol Clube do Porto for the Champions League when he was still playing for Manchester United. That was a beautiful strike from distance, but… it doesn’t happen that often, and even though there are other players in Portugal squad that have proven they can score from long range, they don’t really show it when it comes to representing their national team.
Weakness #4 – The lack of a true center forward
Portugal as had a problem with the center forwards for years now. They’ve had some good players for that position, like João Pinto, Nuno Gomes and Pauleta, but except for Pauleta, none of them were really world-class strikers, and now the players that are fighting for a place in the starting eleven for the center forward position are, Hugo Almeida, Hélder Postiga and Éder. They are players with completely different characteristics and style of play, but are seen as poor quality strikers. Still, I think they might make a surprise if they are in a good day, besides, Hugo Almeida after scoring two goals in that friendly against Ireland sure is motivated. Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @LWOS_GuilhermeT. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page. Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at r/football. For the latest injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
