The Portugese national team hasn’t had many miraculous World Cup moments like the time they thrashed North Korea 7-0 in 2010. Portugal has been and still remains a one-man team with a majority of the team’s successes being attributed to Cristiano Ronaldo, the man who won the coveted Ballon d’Or this year and has been instrumental in Real Madrid’s success in the UEFA Champion’s League. His strong forward attack ensures his scoring a goal in nearly every Champion’s League as well as European League match that he has appeared in and is the reason for Portugal qualifying yet again for the World Cup 2014. At the age of 29, Ronaldo has been capped over a 100 times and has scored a total of 55 goals in the 46 appearances he put in this year alone, both club and international.
He commenced his youth career at the age of 8 with Portugal’s CF Andorinha. His real breakthrough emerged when he was discovered by Sir Alex Fergusson and made a part of the Manchester United team for the 2002-2003 season. Sir Fergusson’s decision to make him don the No.7 jersey (a number linked with football greats such as Beckham) proved visionary as the young Portuguese player rose to live up to the greatness expected out of him.
Ronaldo is proven to be an extremely versatile attack and plays as left wing or striker depending upon the progress of the game. His speed and accuracy with the goal along with his excellent capacity to manipulate the ball out of the opponent and into the goalpost makes him a deadly foe to play against. His performance at the club level has outshone his international game mostly because he lacks a world class team that can support his immense talent enough to bring them prominent victory.
The Portuguese team for this World Cup is relatively injury free, a benefit they have over Germany’s star player’s injuries. However, their relative good health coupled with Coentrao’s and Pepe’s defence and Moutinho’s assists might not be enough to prevent the German wall from breaking them. As this World Cup has been full of surprises, however, there’s no telling as to in whose favour events will progress once the match is underway.
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