|
Thursday June 26th - 10:00AM | ||
PORTUGAL |
vs | GHANA | |
| FIFA RANKING 3 | FIFA RANKING 38 | ||
 |
 |
||
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
|||
| PORTUGAL For the second time in succession Portugal had to go through the play-offs in order to advance to the world finals. Reprising their aggregate defeat of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the road to South Africa 2010, the Portuguese saw off Sweden 4-2 over two legs to book their place at Brazil 2014. Their hero of the hour was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored all four of their goals against the Swedes to round off a qualifying tournament full of ups and downs for Paulo Bento’s side. They began their bid to reach their sixth FIFA World Cup as the favourites to win Group F, having made the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2012, where they lost on penalties to Spain. And though they held their own against Russia, losing in Moscow but winning the return fixture in Lisbon, the Portuguese had to settle for second place in the section after surprise draws at home to Northern Ireland and home and away to Israel. That left them with no option but to take the play-off route again, but in a duel that pitted together two of the world’s best players, Ronaldo got the better of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the scorer of his side’s two goals, to guide the Portuguese safely to Brazil. . GHANA Ghana survived one of the continent's toughest qualifying groups by winning five of their six matches against 2012 African champions Zambia, Lesotho and Sudan. A 1-0 defeat in Zambia was their only set-back in a campaign that saw them outscore their opponents by 15 goals to three. That sent them into the final play-off round, where again the Black Stars were done no favours by the draw, which set them up against seven-time African champions Egypt. However, a resounding 6-1 win the home first leg basically settled the tie and sent them into their third FIFA World Cup in succession even before a meaningless 2-1 defeat in Cairo. |
|||
RECENT RESULTS |
|||
| PORTUGAL | GHANA | ||
| 16/06/14 - GERMANY 4-0 PORTUGAL 19/11/13 - SWEDEN 2-3 PORTUGAL 15/11/13 - PORTUGAL 1-0 SWEDEN |
16/06/14 - GHANA 1-2 USA 19/11/13 - EGYPT 2-1 GHANA 15/10/13 - GHANA 6-1 EGYPT |
||
| PLAYERS TO WATCH | |||
| PORTUGAL As he showed in the play-off against Sweden, Cristiano Ronaldo is still very much Portugal’s go-to man, though the peerless Real Madrid star is supported is by a very able cast. The central-defensive pairing of Pepe and Bruno Alves is the cornerstone of a very solid rearguard that also features flying full-backs Joao Pereira and Fabio Coentrao. Joao Moutinho is the heartbeat of a creative midfield unit, while Nani can also be relied upon to shine alongside Ronaldo. |
|||
| GHANA There are few better midfields in the world than Ghana's as the Black Stars can call on veterans Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari as well as players hitting their prime like Andre Ayew, Kwadwo Asamoah and Kevin-Prince Boateng. Up front, the athletic Asamoah Gyan will be a vital focal point and no doubt anxious to prove that Ghana can be the undisputed class of Africa. |
|||
|
BACK TO MATCH CALENDAR > | ||
_sm.jpg)