All about the Portugal Team at Football World Cup 2018
The Portuguese National Football Team shall be heading to Russia this summer after overcoming Switzerland by two goals to nil; coming in their final qualifying game in a match played in Lisbon in October 2017. The Selecao are currently in fine form and currently sit third on FIFA’s latest rankings of national teams. They play in Group B against Spain, Morocco, and Iran.
Tips for Betting on Portugal in the World Cup 2018
For outrights, considering the 8/1 odds placed by Paddy Power, it is advisable to stake carefully as it contains moderate risk. While the Portuguese are currently on a good run, their star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, has been in a poor individual form of late. If he fails to recreate the kind of form that saw him lead his team to glory in France two years ago, Portugal might be knocked out of the competition. Also, teams like Brazil and Germany are on an equally fine run and might just upstage the Portuguese. As pertains corner, staking highly on Portugal to complete matches with less than three yellow cards would be a brainy move, considering they rank highly on fair play and suffered only one yellow card penalization at their last competitive fixture. As for corner-kicks, The Selecao tend to win a fair amount of these. A good tip would be to stake on Portugal to win over five corners, especially against weaker opponents.
Betting Odds on Portugal to Win the World Cup 2018
According to popular bookmakers, Portugal is 8/1 to win the World Cup outright. This is quite a favourable odd from the bookmakers’ perspective considering that Portugal is the current European Champions and are unbeaten in their last 13 international fixtures, both competitive and friendly.
Expected Portugal Lineup at the World Cup
The team that is expected to be mostly fielded in World Cup matches is likely to comprise players who’ve already featured in the Selecao’s most recent competitive fixtures, including the triumph in the qualifiers over Switzerland. In the position of shot-stopper, Sporting Club’s Rui Patricio is expected to regain the position that he’s made his for the past few years. Tasked with defensive duties shall be Jose Fonte, Pepe, Eliseu and Cedric Soares. The centre of the pack shall be marshalled by Joao Moutinho, William Carvalho, Joao Mario and Bernardo Silva. Up front, there shall be Cristiano Ronaldo and new sensation, Andre Silva. Portugal possesses squad depth and the substitutes’ bench shall include equally gifted players such as Fabio Coentrao, Ricardo Quaresma, and Eder.
The Portuguese manager is expected to employ the classic 4-4-2 formation, which seems to bring out the most out of Portugal’s diversely gifted players. This formation thrives when a team has a really good anchoring player and for Portugal, the team’s focal point Shall be Joao Moutinho. His job shall be to pick passes and loose balls from his team’s defensive end and use his vision and experience to turn defence into attack. The Selecao are also expected to use the centre channels more than the flanks as wingers Bernardo Silva and Joao Mario are more renown for their trickery rather than their pace. In Silva, the Selecao have a technical wizard who can dribble inwards into the centre channels and supply incisive passes to the forwards. This approach has recently proven more productive for the Portuguese rather than relying on pacey players like Nani to deliver 50-50 long crosses through the flanks.
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Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo – the attacking ace – who plies his trade for Spanish Giants, Real Madrid, is the most decorated player on the Portuguese roster. He is the most recent winner of the Ballon D’or, which is football’s most-revered individual award. His past achievements with the national team include captaining Portugal to glory at the European Championships in 2016. Having already played a total of 147 matches spread over a 14-year international career, Ronaldo is the Selecao’s all-time leading goal-scorer with 79 goals to his name.
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Joao Moutinho
Joao Moutinho- this technically-gifted player is Portugal’s midfield metronome. Moutinho possesses a surprisingly high vision for a player of his short stature. On his best day, the Monaco ace can be literally unplayable, with dangerous looping crosses and through-balls being his forte. Head coach Fernando Santos shall be looking to him to supply the flanks and shield the rearguard as well.
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