The unease charrúa. / Photo: Fernando Gens.
Portugal became the third classified for the round of 16 of the Qatar 2022 World Cup this Monday, by beating Uruguay 2-0 at the Lusail Stadium, for the second date of Group H.
The Portuguese national team joined France and Brazil for a brace from Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes (9m and 45m ST), first with a cross that deceived goalkeeper Sergio Rochet in front of Cristiano Ronaldo’s charge and then with a penalty penalized after a penalized handball to José María Giménez.
The first conquest, despite not hitting the ball, CR7 celebrated as their own, perhaps out of the desire to catch up with the legendary Eusebio (9) as the greatest Portuguese scorer in the history of the FIFA World Cup.
CR7 celebrated someone else’s goal as if it were their own. / Photo: Maximiliano Luna, special envoy.
Before the partial 1-0, a protester invaded the playing field with slogans in favor of the LGBTQ+ community, women’s rights in Iran and peace in Ukraine.
Uruguay (1), without victories or goals in their two presentations, will define their future in Qatar 2022 next Friday when they face Ghana (3), for the moment escort in the area. The “Celeste” must win and hope that South Korea (1) does not beat Portugal (6) or that they do so by a difference of two goals less than the eventual South American.
In the best of cases, if they get their ticket as H2, the River Plate team will almost certainly play the eighth against five-time champion Brazil, which is practically guaranteed first place in Group G.
Photo: Fernando Gens, special envoy.
Ghana’s earlier win over South Korea ensured Uruguay reached the final round alive, dampening their attacking ambitions against a more wealthy rival in that regard.
Coach Diego Alonso formed a defensive line of five to cover the width of the field and block the connections between the talented Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Félix and Cristiano Ronaldo.
With its two full-backs contained, the central defenders well established and its three midfielders close to them, including Federico Valverde, the “Celeste” didn’t have any problems in the first half.
Photo: Maximiliano Luna, special envoy.
Portugal arranged a 60 percent tenure, attempted 9 shots on target, but only one required the intervention of Sergio Rochet. All the others, launched by Nuno Mendes, Cristiano, Joao Félix and Bernardo Silva, were blocked or deflected.
The clearest chance of scoring was in favor of Uruguay and it was at the feet of Rodrigo Bentancur, who a while before was on the verge of expulsion for a premature yellow card and a subsequent foul that was forgiven by the Iranian referee Alireza Faghani.
32 minutes went by when the former Boca recovered in advance in his own field, moved the ball about 50 meters, passed between William and Rubén Días and defined the body of a timely Diogo Costa to reduce the definition angle.
Photo: Maximiliano Luna, special envoy.
After that chance, Uruguay was encouraged to attack a little more, but the break came to reset the conditions of the game. Portugal resumed its predominance in the second half and took the lead after 9 minutes with an “involuntary” goal from Fernandes.
It was what Alonso needed to abandon the precautions and give minutes to more offensive players: Matías Pellistri, Georgian De Arrascaeta and Luis Suárez on time. With them, Uruguay was closer to the goal, for example when the left post returned a shot from Pellistri.
Photo: Maximiliano Luna, special envoy.
The “Pistolero” Suárez finished off the external face of the Portuguese goal and when Uruguay threatened to corner its rival, the penalty kick arrived, decided by VAR, which ensured the victory of the European team.
The nearly 5,000 Uruguayans present in Lusail were completely turned off, they left worried about their performance and doing the math to see how their team will do to be among the 16 best in the World Cup.
