United States-Portugal betting preview
The teams’ performances so far in World Cup 2014 have made a mockery of some of the pre-tournament predictions. Two good examples of this trend are the cases of the USA and Portugal. The USA was rank outsiders from a group that contains Germany, Portugal and Ghana, while Portugal was hailed as a dark horse not just from the group but for whole tournament as well. It took only a couple of matches to change that perception.
Germany thrashed Portugal 4-0 in the opening match, while the USA edged past Ghana 2-1. Now, the USA is the dark horse, and Portugal faces a potential first round exit like the other European powerhouses Spain and England. Sunday’s match between the two will give a better idea of the teams’ fortunes in this world cup.
United States-Portugal Preview
Portugal appeared to have a flawed game plan against Germany. They tried to make Ronaldo score every time they got the ball. Ronaldo had an off-day, and Portugal was nowhere in picture against Germany. At times it appeared that Germany was playing with 13 or 14 players. But the truth was that Portugal was trying to play like a single-man team.
Portugal must avoid similar pitfalls against the USA. The Americans showed against Ghana that they are an excellent team, adept at both attack and defence.
Players
There are rumours about Ronaldo’s fitness, or rather lack of it. But he is expected to start. Portugal will miss a couple of their other stars though: Pepe due to suspension and Fabio Coentrao due to injury. Nanny is the only player in the Portugal team who appeared capable of scoring goals against Germany.
The USA will miss their experienced striker Jozy Altidore because of injury. In his absence, Jermaine Jones will lead the attack along with Clint Dempsey.
United States-Portugal Prediction
Almost all bookmakers favour Portugal. But it is doubtful whether they can recover from the mauling they received against Portugal. The USA has a good chance of sending another highly fancied European team out of this world cup.
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