Pragmatism likely to rule as Uruguay face Portugal

Pragmatic, difficult to beat, spearheaded by talismanic forwards and led by veteran, battle-hardened coaches - few teams have as much in common with each other as Uruguay and Portugal who meet in a World Cup round of 16 tie tonight.

The match may not have the makings of a goal feast but still promises to be a fascinating battle between two teams who repeatedly punch above their weight and who are a mirror image of each other.

The South Americans, who won all three of their first round games to top their group, have so far been the impressive of the two and are the only team yet to concede goal at the tournament in Russia.

Portugal, meanwhile, muddled through their group with draws against Spain and Iran and a fortuitous win over Morocco but that is unlikely to bother their grizzled coach Fernando Santos, who is always happy for his team to be considered the ugly ducklings.

Both teams boast forwards who divide public opinion despite their goalscoring prowess.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 85 goals in 153 appearances, although when he plays for his country there is sometimes a feeling that he is both the problem and the solution and many perceive his goal celebrations as arrogant.

At the other end is Uruguay’s Luis Suarez with 53 goals from 101 games but numerous controversies behind him including an nine-game international ban for biting Italy Giorgio Chiellini four years ago.