Uruguay 2-1 Portugal
Edinson Cavani scored a brilliant double in Sochi to take Uruguay to the quarter-finals and send Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal tumbling out of the World Cup.
This was a clash of genuine contenders, the European champions against the side with the most feared strike partnership and quite possibly the best defender at FIFA 2018, Diego Godin.
The FIFA 2018 odds had Oscar Tabarez’ Uruguay as potential dark horses at around 28.00 at the start of the tournament, but this highly skilled and tenacious side’s odds are dropping by the day now.
And there was El Clasico intrigue to add to this game for La Liga fans, with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo coming up against Barca’s Luis Suarez. Between them, they have scored 51 league goals in La Liga. And now it’s pretty big FIFA 2018 news that Ronaldo is on the way home so soon after his nemesis Lionel Messi after Argentina was sent packing by France earlier today.
Highlights of the game
One of the key differences, in the context of this game, is that Suarez doesn’t plough his striking furrow alone. He’s been alongside tonight’s hero Cavani to spearhead Uruguay’s attack for a decade, and the two combined brilliantly to open the scoring. Los Charruas broke swiftly and Suarez collected the ball on the left before sending over a beautiful cross for his strike partner to slam in the net, with his face!
It probably hurt Cavani, but not as much as it did Fernando Santos and his team.
Uruguay isn’t a side you want to go behind to: they didn’t concede at all in qualifying for the round of 16. And Portugal made the knockout phase in less than inspiring form, ploughing through after a bad-tempered draw with Iran. We hoped to see better tonight, but the first half didn’t give us much hope of that.
Bernardo Silva worked hard to get Portugal moving and Ronaldo had a couple of efforts from distance, but it was a pretty peaceful first half for Uruguay keeper Fernando Muslera. Meanwhile, his opposite number Rui Patricio had to get down smartly to stop Suarez from doubling Uruguay’s lead.
But we got what we were looking for as Portugal opened up brightly at the start of the second half, and they got their reward on 52 minutes when the Uruguay defence uncharacteristically left Pepe unmarked at a corner, and the defender headed firmly and low into the net. Game on.
Portugal were in the ascendancy, but this World Cup keeps on delivering drama. Just as Uruguay started to look like underdogs, they fought back and bit Portugal with another beautiful flowing attack. 20-year-old Juve midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur found Cavani with a brilliant pass, and the PSG man wrapped his foot around the ball to curl a beauty past Patricio into the far corner.
Cavani, 2; Portugal, 1.
Portugal had a chance to level almost immediately when Muslera stretched himself to claim the ball and it fell to Silva, but the Manchester City man blazed over.
With one eye on the next game, there were worrying signs for Uruguay fans, though, as two-goal hero Cavani limped off to be replaced by Girona striker Cristhian Stuani. But their well-drilled defence stuck to the task of keeping Ronaldo and Portugal at bay. The Los Blancos star tried to work his magic in the last minute but sliced his shot well wide.
And at the death, Cristian Rodriguez almost got on the end of a Suarez cross to make it a grandstand finish, but the one-goal margin was plenty enough for Los Charruas.
The discipline and work-rate of this team will take some beating. And tonight, we saw the best of Suarez and Cavani, the Barca man working tirelessly to support his partner and simply loving his goals!
Key statistics
This was a first for Uruguay, who had never beaten Portugal before, but their last meeting was way back in 1972.
Oscar Tabarez, at 72, is the oldest coach at the World Cup and this was his 190th game in charge of Los Charruas.
Cavani has scored at the last three World Cups; and though he was having treatment after limping off, I expect he’ll be fit to play in the quarter-finals.
Uruguay came into the game with six clean sheets, and that’s no surprise when you have Diego Godin at the heart of your defence. So I suppose that’s something for Portugal to be proud of.
But poor Ronaldo goes home, still never scoring in the knockout stages of a World Cup.
What’s next?
Uruguay look a tough side to beat, and that’s the task facing France at Nizhny Novgorod on Friday, after a thrilling win over Argentina, Kylian Mbappe scoring twice in a scintillating display. That boy’s the future for sure, but in the present, Diego Godin will do his damnedest to stop him.
Make sure you catch that game, all the team here at SBOBET certainly will. It’s bound to be another belter!
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE WORLD CUP 2018 STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
