Cristiano Ronaldo made his World Cup debut against Angola in 2006. He arrived at this event as a young emerging star, a starter at Manchester United and with the feeling in Portugal that they should not fear Figo’s retirement, who arrived after that month in Germany. Since then he has played 17 games in football’s most important competition scoring 7 goals. Four editions that would become five in Qatar. An honor that only Antonio Carbajal, Lothar Matthaus, Rafa Márquez, Gianluigi Buffon and, in November, Leo Messi can boast of. “I begin to see that many of you ask me that question. The one who decides my future is me, nobody else. If I feel like playing more I will and if not, no. I’m the boss“, Said the striker in the pre-match about whether Qatar will be his last World Cup, something that anyone could expect given his 37 years.
To achieve this, he needs his team to beat Macedonia tonight. (follow the match live on As.com). This team, number 67 in the FIFA ranking, does not seem like a fearsome rival by name, but that is what Italy thought last Thursday and now they are out of the World Cup. “I don’t really understand being a favorite or not, but I always consider myself a favourite, whether at home or away.. We know very well that if we win we go to the World Cup and if we lose we are out. They surprised us in many games, but they are not going to surprise us. Portugal will be better and we will go to the World Cup“, Said a confident Cristiano Ronaldo acting as captain after making an appeal to the fans who will occupy the stands of Do Dragao.
For this key match, Fernando Santos recovers Pepe. It is spectacular news for the team after the immense doubts that Danilo left as a central defender along with Fonte last Thursday. “The king has returned!”Cristiano shouted when he saw his partner appear on the training ground after overcoming the coronavirus. The veteran centre-back is expected to lead the defense and be joined by Cancelo, who is returning from suspension. The Portuguese press also suspects that Nuno Mendes could have earned the starting job at left back ahead of Guerreiro. Fonte will try to ensure that no one misses Rúben Dias, injured.
Portugal hope to be seeded if they make it to Friday’s draw, although a win on penalties might not be enough. If so, it would depend on the results that the United States and Mexico achieve tomorrow night.
For its part, Macedonia is well aware that it is the most important match in its history. They have come to this meeting with a great job for a long time, like when they beat Germany in Duisburg just a year ago. In this way, they would certify their great moment of form after having qualified for Euro 2020 in their first appearance in a major national team tournament. Sports motivation is maximum but, just in case, the country’s prime minister Dimitar Kovacevski appeared on the expedition plane and took it upon himself to add an economic incentive by promising €500,000 to each player.
PORTUGAL: Coast; Cancelo, Fonte, Pepe, Nuno Mendes; Bruno Fernandes, Moutinho, Bernardo Silva; Otávio, Cristiano and Jota.
MACEDONIA: Dimitrievski; Ristovski, Velkovski, Musliu, Alioski; Churlinov, Elmas, Kostadinov, Bardhi, Trajkovski; y Ristovski.
REFEREE: A. Taylor (Inglaterra).
STADIUM: To Dragao, Oporto.
HOUR: 20:45 (BeMad)
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