Uruguay vs Portugal Match Analysis and Player Ratings
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| Cavani double sends Uruguay through to the quarter finals (Image from Times of India) |
Uruguay and Portugal kicked off in Sochi with a point to
prove. Both teams came into this match with unbeaten group records which merely
served to disguise laboured performances against the minnows of Egypt and Saudi
and near embarrassment at the hands of Iran. It was fair to say that France had
no reason to be losing any sleep over whoever would end up victorious come 9pm.
With this in mind both sides seemed determined to make the
world take notice and the opening few minutes reflected this ambition. Uruguay started off with high intensity
employing the attacking press to make life difficult for the Portuguese
defenders, while Portugal themselves showed signs of rapid counter attacking
play with Joao Mario producing a promising cross, after good work down the left,
being Portugal’s most notable chance in the opening minutes. Ronaldo’s
intentions were clear from the opening stages as well. He was often found
drifting out to the left and right trying to cover all attacking positions and
singlehandedly drag his country through, a responsibility that he seemed to be
carrying from the opening game of the tournament.
This world cup has spoiled fans with some world
class goals and six minutes in we were about to get another to add to the
collection. Cavani demonstrated some of the positional versatility he would
continue to show throughout the match, collecting the ball in the middle third
on the right before spreading an accurate diagonal ball to the far side of the
pitch where it was collected by Suarez. The understanding Cavani and Suarez
have developed over the last 12 years as Uruguay’s main strike partnership
shone through, with Cavani making a bursting run to the far post where he was
picked out by Suarez to chest the ball past Rui Patricio in goal.
If Uruguay’s literal game plan was to score early
then defend then they stuck to it well. The early pressing play quickly
disappeared and they were content to sit deep and let Portugal pass around in
front of their penalty box. Mario and Bernardo Silva continually saw a lot of
play down the left and right channels but more often than not their crosses
were foiled by the wing backs. For all Portugal’s attacking they could not find
the magic moment with crosses over hit and long range shots blocked. Ronaldo in
particular cut a frustrated figure with his building up desperation
accumulating in attempted long range shots, the majority of which were blocked
straight away. Meanwhile, Uruguay carried an ever present threat, deliberately
leaving Suarez attacking, on the shoulder of the Portuguese defence, who lived
up to his reputation and caused a nuisance on the rare occasion the ball left
Uruguay’s half. The first 45 minutes finished with Uruguay on top, clever link
up play on the right involving Caceres and Nandez enabled them to have a rare
moment in the Portugal penalty area. With Cavani effectively dropping back into
a five man midfield, Portugal had failed to break them down and would have to
look to the second half to get back into the match.
The second half started similarly to the first.
Uruguay, hoping that early intensity would pay off in the same way it did
earlier, showed willingness to win the ball back high up the pitch causing
difficulty for Portugal’s back four. And once again in similar fashion to the
first half Portugal were restricted to patient play around Uruguay’s penalty
box, but were met with disciplined defending, in particular from star man Godin
who made a few key interceptions. Portugal seemed the more likely to score
after the break and after a short corner, the product of some dangerous
crosses, a cross into the box was met with a strong header by Pepe who sent the
ball past Muslera for the Portugal equaliser.
With the match tied a 1-1 it could have gone either way and Portugal had
definitely gained some momentum after the goal. However, their joy was short
lived as a long ball forward, trademark of Uruguay’s night, was poorly dealt
with by the Portugal defence. The ball came to Cavani again on the left corner
of the box who curled in a perfectly placed shot past Patricio for his second
strike of the night.
With Uruguay leading, the tide continued to be in
Portugal’s favour with Bernardo seeing a lot of the ball and often acting as
Portugal’s catalyst for attacking play. Yet it wasn’t until the 70th
minute when any real trouble was caused for Uruguay with their keeper spilling
a cross which didn’t quite make it to the feet of any Portuguese players.
Portugal continued to be frustrated and even the introduction of Quaresma who
provided some much needed width did not do much to challenge the Uruguay
defence. Ronaldo’s night was summed up with a 90th minute shot from
distance which was wide enough to not cause Muslera any worry.
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| A frustrating night for Ronaldo (Image from the BBC) |
The final
whistle could not come quick enough for Uruguay who were showing clear signs of
tiring in the closing stages, and when it did come was succinctly met with
jubilant scenes from the Uruguay team and bench. Their regimented team will now
have the world watching.
Uruguay Player Ratings
1 Muslera (6) - Remained unchallenged the majority
of the night apart from his mishandling of a cross late into the match. Nothing
he could do about the goal.
22 Caceres (7) - Defended well against threats from
Mario down the left and was involved in some good link up attacking play.
2 Gimenez (7) - Part of a solid Uruguay defence
which restricted Portugal to long range shots
3 Godin (8) - Made some key interceptions and
generally played up to his high standard.
17 Laxalt (7) - Defended well against the ever
present thread from Bernardo.
14 Torreira (5) - Generally the midfield area was
dominated by Portugal which made it difficult for him to contribute
8 Nandez (7) - Threatened down the right hand side
and was involved in promising play around the penalty area
15 Vecino (6) - All-round solid but unspectacular
performance.
6 Bentancur (5) - Quiet night for the midfielder.
9 Suarez (8) - Lived up to his reputation and caused
a nuisance for Portugal despite often being isolated up front.
21 Cavani (9) - Showed great effort throughout the
match putting in a strong defensive shift and showing his attacking prowess
with two well worked goals.
Portugal Player Ratings
1 Rui Patricio (6) - Wasn’t very active with his
team mainly attacking but could not do anything about the two goals
15 Pereira (6) - Generally a quiet night for
Portugal’s defender
3 Pepe (7) - Defended well when called into action
and dragged his team back into the match
6 Fonte (7) - Contained Suarez well for the majority
of the night and helped limit Uruguay’s chances.
5 Guerreiro (7) - Showed great effort in his
involvement with Portugal’s build up down the left.
11 Bernardo Silva (8) - Involved in most of
Portugal’s play but had to wait until the second half to cause Uruguay any real
issues at the back.
23 Adrien Silva (7) - Looked dangerous down the right-hand
side with Bernardo.
14 William Carvalho (6) - Carried out his role but
majority of his play was sideward.
10 Mario (7) - Showed good attacking intent and was
one of Portugal’s main threats.
17 Guedes (5) - Fortunate to be starting with his
lacklustre performances so far. Inexperience showing through.
7 Ronaldo (6) - Tried to do everything and be
everywhere when Portugal mainly needed an aerial threat in the box. Limited to
long distance shots none of which trouble the Uruguay keeper.
MAN OF THE MATCH - CAVANI
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| Dark horses Uruguay will fancy their chances against France (Image from the Indian Express) |
GOAT manoeuvres ngl
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