Two of the world’s deadliest strikers will have a showdown this coming Saturday, as Luis Suarez and Uruguay meet Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in a highly intriguing meeting in the round of 16. Will Uruguay and their outstanding two-way play snuff Portugal’s chances? Or will Portugal send Uruguay to an early vacation?
Uruguay cakewalked through the group stage, winning all three of their assignments without even conceding a single goal. Conversely La Celeste scored five goals, including three in a dominant 3-0 whipping of Russia. Striker Luis Suarez sustained his nice form by netting a goal in the Russia game to bring his total in the tournament to two gals. He has the ability to negate whatever damage Cristiano Ronaldo is going to inflict on Uruguay this Saturday, so he’s definitely a man to watch. Portugal will do its part in trying to put the clamps on Suarez, but La Celeste still have the talented and dangerous Edinson Cavani, who finally got on the scoring sheet in Russia with a 90th-minute strike against the Russians. Uruguay have allowed just two goals in their last six matches.
Betting on Portugal (+175)
Portugal will go as far as where Cristiano Ronaldo takes them, though, it may sound unfair considering that there’s more to the team than just the five-time Ballon d’Or award winner. Ronaldo has scored four of the team’s five goals in the tournament, but he failed to figure on the scoring sheet in the 1-1 tie with Iran in last Monday’s match to conclude their group stage campaign. Ronaldo has slowed down a bit in the last two matches after dropping a hat trick in the opener against Spain that ended in a 3-3 draw. Scoring against Uruguay is seemingly an impossible task so far, and even with someone like Ronaldo on their team, Portugal need others like Andre Silva and Goncalo Guedes to step up and some additional creativity from the midfield to set up tasty scoring chances up front.
Writer’s Prediction
It’s the end of the road for Ronaldo and Portugal, as Uruguay stop them on their tracks with a 2-1 win.
