PORTUGAL – SWITZERLAND | Tuesday, 20:00
The round of 16 of the Qatar 2022 finals goes down to the wire with the match between Portugal and Switzerland: it will be played at the Iconic Stadium in Lusail, the brand new stadium where the final of the World Cup will be staged on 18 December. Also dreaming of being there is Cristiano Ronaldo, who is aware that he may be at his last World Cup ball, but is nonetheless highly motivated because of the long-distance challenge with long-time rival Leo Messi. If on the one hand the Psg player is dragging Argentina to the tune of goals and plays, taking the cover as he should, the same cannot be said of CR7, more extra than protagonist in a Portugal where the main merits seem collective rather than individual.
Fernando Santos’ selection, in fact, from the midfield upwards has such a wealth of quality that he can afford to keep AC Milan star Leao on the bench, used so far by the experienced coach to ‘split’ matches in two, demonstrating that he does not depend exclusively on the former Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United striker.
Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 3-2 win against Ghana on a penalty kick, failed to do so by a matter of centimetres against Uruguay – the goal was then awarded to Bruno Fernandes – and churned out an assist for Ricardo Horta in the third game against South Korea, in which the Lusitanians suffered their first defeat. A 2-1 defeat in any case was irrelevant, as they were already certain to enter the round of 16. In spite of Santos’ ‘pushed’ turnover, Ronaldo still took the field and apparently even got angry at the substitution. All this while his prosecutors are finalising a deal – according to Marca – with the Saudis of Al-Nassr, in all likelihood his next team, which will guarantee him a monstrous 200 million euro per year.
Switzerland did well in a difficult round
While Portugal did not have to struggle much to bring home qualification, they are not a team without flaws. The feeling is that up front, with all those technical players, more could be done, while at the back the defence is far from airtight, and the four goals conceded in three games are confirmation of that. In the round of 16, however, they will face a very solid team, Switzerland, who finished second behind Brazil and actively contributed to the elimination of Cameroon and ambitious Serbia, two very strong contenders. As Roberto Mancini’s Italy had already experienced in the qualifying matches, it is never a walk in the park to play against the Swiss.
In the first match, they held off Cameroon, pipped 1-0 by their own Cameroon-born centre forward Embolo. Then they held out for a full 80 minutes against heavily favoured Brazil, coming close to snatching a miraculous draw. And finally the ‘real match’ against Serbia, which Shaqiri and his team-mates – aware that they had two results out of three at their disposal – had the strength to overturn (3-2) after Mitrovic and Vlahovic in turn had overturned the initial goal scored by the striker of Kosovan origin.
Portugal v Switzerland: latest line-up news
France, Brazil and Portugal too: the unbridled turnover in this World Cup has already claimed some excellent victims. Fernando Santos will therefore propose a similar line-up to the one that faced Uruguay on the second day of the group stage, with the exception of the injured Nuno Mendes: for the Psg full-back, the World Cup is over. Cancelo is likely to move to the left, while former Milan player Dalot should play on the right. In the centre of defence, due to the unavailability of Danilo Pereira, Ruben Dias returns. In front, Bruno Fernandes will act behind the pair Cristiano Ronaldo-Joao Felix, the latter preferred once again to Leao.
In Switzerland, the big question is the presence of the starting goalkeeper Sommer: the latest news coming out of the Swiss retreat is comforting and the possibility of the Borussia Monchengladbach defender returning to Yakin’s side is very high. No changes between midfield and attack: a dyke composed of Freuler and Xhaka in front of the defence and Embolo as the only forward, supported by Shaqiri, Sow and Vargas.
The Prediction
Switzerland are a nasty customer, adept at making their opponents play badly. And it will take the best Portugal to break them. It will be a well-balanced match, with at least one goal on each side, which could turn on especially in the second half, as has always been the case in matches featuring CR7 and his team-mates so far. On the whole, the Lusitanians have more quality than Yakin’s men and should eventually prevail. Even if it goes into extra time, a prospect not to be ruled out a priori.
Portugal v Switzerland squad
- PORTOGALLO (4-3-1-2): Diogo Costa; Dalot, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Cancelo; Bernardo Silva, Ruben Neves, William Carvalho; Bruno Fernandes; Joao Felix, Cristiano Ronaldo.
- SWITZERLAND (4-2-3-1): Sommer; Widmer, Akanji, Schar, Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka; Shaqiri, Sow, Vargas; Embolo.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
