Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal will take centre stage after they sq. off minnows Ghana at Stadium 974 in Doha
Portugal can get their Group H marketing campaign off to a flyer towards a Ghana facet which have did not win their final 7 matches within the FIFA World Cup.
The headlines are presently dominated by none apart from world icon, Cristiano Ronaldo after his Manchester United profession led to a dramatic vogue.
However Ronaldo is basically not troubled concerning the headlines, as his focus is on the duty at hand with Portugal in Qatar. Good performances on the most important stage will robotically place him excessive on the store window.
Apart from Ronaldo, this Portuguese squad is jam-packed with breakout stars, world-class abilities, and skilled warriors. Their common names are again, together with burgeoning stars akin to Diogo Costa, Nuno Mendes, and Rafael Leao, who full out a stunningly deep 26-man roster.
That is arguably the golden technology of Portugal soccer, even higher than the one which gained Euro 2016. Supervisor Fernando Santos has efficiently transitioned them from a defensive-minded staff that led them to European crown in 2016 to a free-flowing, free-scoring attacking facet, with even their defenders, Diogo Dalot and Joao Cancelo, getting concerned within the remaining third.
In the meantime, Ghana are the match’s lowest-ranked staff, but it surely would not give a correct thought about their efficiency to upset the apple cart.
They’ve just lately added quite a lot of expertise on their roster, particularly after qualifying for the World Cup that helped them persuade some top-level footballers to modify allegiance.
Mohammed Salisu, Tariq Lamptey, and Inaki Williams have all joined the Black Stars’ bandwagon to Qatar, whereas the breakout of Ajax star Mohammed Kudus is one other shiny spot. That enhance mirrored of their snug 2-0 warm-up pleasant victory over Fifteenth-ranked Switzerland.Â
Nonetheless, there’s a gulf in high quality between Portugal and Ghana, whereas the latter’s World Cup historical past paints a bleak image forward of Thursday’s recreation.
Their final World Cup win was a slender win over Serbia manner again within the 2010 version, whereas they even did not qualify for the match finals in 2018.Â
Portugal vs Ghana predicted lineups
Portugal XI (4-3-3): Costa; Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Guerreiro; Neves, Carvalho, Fernandes; B. Silva, Ronaldo, Leao
Ghana XI (4-2-3-1): Ati Zigi; Lamptey, Amartey, Djiku, Baba; Partey, Abdul Samed; Sulemana, Kudus, J. Ayew; Williams
Portugal vs Ghana LIVE updates
Portugal and Ghana’s upcoming World Cup fixtures
After this, Portugal will lock horns with dark-horse Uruguayan facet in what shall be a feisty and tough encounter for 2 sides, with each seeking to keep away from ending second and have a harder draw, which is more likely to pit them towards rampant Brazilians.
Afterwards, they may face South Korea on 2nd December, and shall be aiming to safe their place within the knockout levels by the point that recreation comes round.
Ghana will tackle South Korea earlier than rounding off their World Cup group section towards old-foes Uruguay, hoping to remain inside contact of different favourites within the group till the ultimate matchday.