Uruguay, Portugal square off in tight round-of-16 clash
While others try to downplay the significance, the match between Uruguay and Portugal in the FIFA World Cup knockout stage will be focused on how much influence Luis Suárez and Cristiano Ronaldo can have.
Similar evaluations are made a few times every year when Ronaldo’s Real Madrid and Suárez’s Barcelona meet in La Liga and other club competitions. But this is the first time that it will happen on the biggest stage in football and with a spot in the quarterfinals at stake.
Veteran Portugal defender Bruno Alves said this week that today’s match will be about more than Ronaldo and Suárez. Good luck convincing fans of that!
Uruguay won its group with clean sheet victories in its first three games. Portugal’s path to second place in its group was more tenuous. Of course, it was Ronaldo leading the way, scoring four of Portugal’s five goals.
Portugal’s path to the round of 16 feels somewhat familiar to two years ago when it won the European Championship. This time, Portugal escaped to the knockout round after a shaky 1-1 draw with Iran, which had chances at victory in the closing moments.
In 2016, Portugal played to a 3-3 draw with Hungary on the final day of the Euros group stage, including two second-half goals from Ronaldo, to reach the knockout round. That was the start of Portugal’s memorable run. The team did just enough to get past Croatia and Poland before decisively beating Wales in the semifinals and knocking off France in the final to give Portugal its first major international title. It is unlikely that the same scenario will play out again, given how difficult the road to the final could be. But would anybody be surprised if Ronaldo again takes Portugal on a deep tournament run?
“We are champions of Europe and we have demonstrated our quality,” Portugal defender Cedric Soares said.
Uruguay is in the round of 16 for the third straight World Cup but is seeking a better memory than four years ago when Suárez’s biting of Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini was the story going into the knockout round. Uruguay was then dominated by Colombia in a 2-0 loss that turned into a showcase for James Rodriguez. In 2010, Suárez was a spectator for the semi-final loss to the Netherlands, having been sent off in the quarterfinals against Ghana.
This could be the final run for the veteran group that has played key roles in the past three World Cups for Uruguay. Suárez is 31, as are Edinson Cavani and defender Martin Caceres. Captain Diego Godin is 32. Uruguay has plenty of youth on its roster for the future.