2018 FIFA World Cup: Portugal vs Uruguay, 3 player battles to look forward to
The Round of 16 match between Portugal and Uruguay at the Olimpiyskiy Stadion Fisht on Saturday will be an interesting encounter between two sides who proved their competence in the group stage.
Being one of the four South American countries to qualify for the knockout stage, Uruguay have got a strong defence and world-class strikers of great reputation on their side. Portugal, on the other hand, are a one-man army led by Cristiano Ronaldo and will expect from him to lead their side to World Cup glory.
Portugal had a tough battle in the group stage having drawn to Spain 3-3 in their first match due to Ronaldo's heroic, winning narrowly against Morocco and scraped a 1-1 draw against Iran to secure their qualification for the Round of 16. Uruguay, on the other hand, won with a margin of 1 goal against both Egypt and Saudi Arabia and beat the hosts Russia 3-0 in their final group stage game to secure the top spot in their group.
Uruguay will defend solidly and will look to score early against Portugal through its excellent attackers. Portugal, on the other hand, will try to ward off any threat which the Uruguay strikers will throw at them and look towards Cristiano Ronaldo to create magic and beat the tough defence of Uruguay comprising of Godin and Gimenez.
It will be an enthralling encounter to decide the game on Saturday. Let us look at the 3 key battles which might decide the fate of the two sides:
#3 Quaresma vs Cavani
Cavani and Quaresma are crucial players for their respective countries in the Round of 16 at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Having had a decent World Cup, both these players scored in their country's last group stage match. Both have something special in their game which gives excitement to their fans.
Having scored a wonderful goal from the outside of his right foot against Iran, Quaresma has a passing accuracy of 60% in opposition's area and has completed 28 successful passes. He has scored 1 goal in the 2 games which he has played for Portugal in the group stage.
Cavani, on the other hand, found his mojo in Uruguay's 3-0 victory over Russia. Having scored 1 goal from 6 shots on target in the first 3 matches, Cavani will look to increase his goal tally against Portugal on Saturday.
This will be an interesting battle between two talented players to watch for the fans.