Uruguay will go into their last-16 showdown with Portugal as slight favourites after becoming the first side in 20 years to progress from their group without conceding a goal. Both sides have shown the resilience, gamesmanship and ruthlessness we’ve come to expect, and the collection of world-class attacking talent on display will make Uruguay v Portugal a tense encounter.
Saturday night will mark the first ever competitive meeting between the sides, and what a spectacle it promises to be: the current European champions against two-time former World Cup winners.
Uruguay v Portugal Preview
Holding midfielder William Carvalho is an injury doubt for Portugal, and key central defender Jose Gimenez sat out the final group game for Uruguay so could miss out here too. Otherwise, both teams should be able to field full-strength line-ups.
Uruguay’s defensive resilience has made up for a conservative attacking display so far in Russia. Despite boasting Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani up front – two of the world’s best centre-forwards and a well-oiled international partnership – they were underwhelming in their opening games against Egypt and Saudi Arabia, before letting the shackles off against the hosts in a 3-0 win.
Both members of that deadly duo are off the mark for the tournament now. The danger for Portugal is that Suarez hits one of his purple patches, in which he is virtually unstoppable. After looking rusty at best against Egypt, the Barcelona forward scored consecutively in the Saudi Arabia and Russia matches and will be looking to continue the upward form.
Despite more than playing their part in the 3-3 draw with Spain (that could easily go down as the game of the tournament), Portugal have been equally as blunt an attacking force.
They are heavily, heavily reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo to score the goals, and so far he has four. Of those four, one was a dubious penalty and the next a once-in-a-blue-moon fumble from David De Gea.
In summary – Portugal have not created clear-cut chances from open play and could struggle to break down the Uruguayan resilience. Ronaldo’s supporting cast will have to work double-time to create the openings that could win them the game.
The Key Battles
It’s a shame the match will no doubt be littered with play-acting, aggression and referee harassment despite an abundance of world-class talent on the pitch.
But of the countless layers of competitiveness that this intriguing clash possesses, there are two key battles that will decide how this match will be won. Both are rich in story.
Real Madrid’s Ronaldo will face off yet again with his Atlético nemesis Diego Godin. The pair are more than familiar with each other and Ronaldo has had the better in recent years, scoring two hat-tricks and winning two Madrid-derby Champions League finals.
But Godin, as well as his Atlético partner in the centre of defence with Uruguay Gimenez, kept 34 clean sheets in all competitions last season. The pair know that now is the time focus their attention on keeping out the talismanic striker.
At the other end, Suarez will do battle with Pepe. Their La Liga careers only crossed over for a few seasons before the ex-Madrid defender moved to Turkey, but in their few direct encounters there was inevitable drama.
In one of the first, Pepe appeared to lead with an elbow into a tackle with the striker and left him with a black eye that at the time was deemed accidental, but we all know the Portuguese defender better than that.
Suarez will be brimming with confidence after two goals. He will be looking to use Pepe’s advancing years against him with trademark bustling pace, but this Portugal side have shown their defensive solidarity and pure know-how of winning games over the last two years.
Both teams are fiercely competitive and will expect to be advancing to the quarterfinals – Uruguay v Portugal promises to make a great Saturday night.
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