Portugal, all about CR7

ThisDrinkingLife and The World Cup: Portugal

Portugal and Ronaldo, the two are synonymous in Football. Without their star, Ronaldo, Portugal wouldn’t be half the team, and might struggle to qualify for so many top tournaments. Will this be the year that Ronaldo drags his nation to a world cup final? Well its a definite possibility.

Of course it would be prudish to exclude the rest of the squad in any analysis. Portugal have a decent enough team, strong in defence, creative in midfield, and Ronaldo up front. It is a good team. Going forward that is. They are a team that is great for counter attacking football, but their defence can so easily be caught at the other end.

They have good defenders in Fábio Coentrão, Bruno Alves, Pepe, and André Almeida. Decent enough but as a group they are liable for the odd mishap, and they also tend to give away silly free kicks around their box.

Midfield is also pretty decent. João Moutinho, Raul Meireles, and Manchester United’s Nani, three creative players who love getting forward at all times. its the tracking back that could be the problem here.

In the forward line Hugo Almeida and Hélder Postiga are the wrong side of 30 and I haven’t seen a whole lot from them previous World Cups to suggest they will trouble many defences this time around.

So it all lies on Portugal’s key player and inspirational captain Cristiano Ronaldo. He has had an amazing season, winning the Champions League, outscoring his nemesis Messi, and finishing the season scoring 31 goals from 30 games, sharing the European Golden Shoe with Liverpool striker Luis Suárez. What else can you say about that? Amazing season from an amazing player. He really has developed into one of the best player ever, as his all round game has also improved in the last few years. With Ronaldo in such sizzling form, Portugal will always have a chance against any team.

In group G Portugal have got one of the harder groups. Against Germany in the first game, Portugal will have to be at their very best. These kind of games are always tight and cagey. I predict a score draw. We will see the real Portugal in the next game, with the pressure off watch them beat the USA comfortably, perhaps will get a few dodgy decisions in that game. I think Ghana will be a test, a strong physical team, this game might be also a draw. Five points could be enough for Portugal to come out of this group, as all the games in this group will be competitive and closely fought. Ronaldo will be the difference for Portugal in reaching the second round.

In the second round they could get to play either Belgium or Russia. Id fancy Portugal to beat both of these options, would be close but again its the Ronaldo factor that gets them moving along in the world cup. Last eight could be Argentina, and what a match that would be. Messi V Ronaldo all over again. Brilliant. If you follow form you just have to go with Portugal and Ronaldo. Then we are in the Semi’s, all to play for against Spain. I feel this would be the end of the road for Portugal. Cant see them beating Spain, so a 3rd or 4th place finish for Portugal in this world cup is what I expect.