Ronaldo aims for redemption as Portugal battle Switzerland
Portugal will hope to book their first quarter-finals spot since 2006, but first will need to find a way past Switzerland. Fernando Santos’s men come into this match having suffered a surprise 2-1 reversal to South Korea in their final group stage game. Although Portugal had already qualified thanks to 3-2 and 2-0 wins over Ghana and Uruguay respectively, the defeat to the Asian nation marks the first in 19 World Cup appearances that Portugal had taken a lead and failed to win the match.
As such, many eyes will be on the EURO 2016 winners to see how they react in their upcoming match against Switzerland. Cristiano Ronaldo was slammed for his lax defending that led to one of Korea’s goals; as a result, there are apparently quite a few fans who actually would like to see their nation’s all-time top goal-scorer benched for this game. That isn’t highly likely to happen, as Ronaldo will want to finally score a goal in the knockout rounds in what appears to be his last World Cup.
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The 37-year-old has already written his name in the history books as the first player to score in five World Cups – something that his eternal rival Lionel Messi hasn’t achieved. However, Messi was on target for his team as they earned a 2-1 win over Australia to set up a quarter-finals clash against the Netherlands, so it’s safe to assume that Ronaldo will hope to do likewise and help Portugal secure their place in the final eight.
Of course, Switzerland will be desperate to ensure that doesn’t happen. La Nati won two of their three group stage matches, beating both Serbia and Cameroon to arrive at this juncture as their quartet’s runners-up. Murat Yakin’s side have not made it to the quarter-finals in well over half a century, and are hoping to win three World Cup matches for the first time in national history.
It will be easier said than done, but Switzerland have beaten Portugal once so far this year during a Nations League match, making this the third meeting between the two sides in 2022. Both teams will be hoping to feature in the final eight after a long absence; in the case of Portugal, it’s been 16 years, for Switzerland, well, it’s been well before any of the players and even their team’s manager was even born.
Will Portugal recover from their shock 2-1 loss to rebound here? Or will Switzerland’s current team write their names in the history books? We certainly will know the answer to these questions after 90 minutes, or depending how things go, 120 minutes or possibly more this Tuesday.
