Portugal vs Ghana
Estadio Nacional,Brasilia
Kick-off: 9.30 pm Sri Lankan time
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain).
It is the last match of the group and unbelievably enough Portugal could quite possibly get eliminated. The Portuguese managed to amass only one point in two matches, concede six and only score two goals – they also collected their heaviest World Cup defeat ever against Germany two weeks ago. Paulo Bento’s team need to beat the highly competitive Ghana and will have to do this by scoring a substantial amount of goals. If there is one person that can do it is this year’s Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, who will start the match albeit a persistent knee issue.
Portugal are without Fabio Coentrao while Helder Postiga, who suffered a hamstring injury against the United States, is also absent.
With Hugo Almeida also injured, Eder is the only fit striker available.
One alternative would be to use Cristiano Ronaldo in a central striking role with Silvestre Varela to start out wide.
Ghana, meanwhile, miss Sulley Muntari through suspension and Emmanuel Badu is his likely replacement.
Portugal and Ghana will go home if the other game in this group, between the United States and Germany, ends in a draw.
If there is a winner in Brasilia and they take the three points with a healthy advantage, they could still qualify but given that Portugal have scored two goals and conceding six, it does not look good for Cristiano Ronaldo and Co.
This is the first time ever those two teams will square off
Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan has scored five World Cup goals and has tied the record of Cameroon legend Roger Milla. Now those two are the two top African scorers in the history of the competition.
The Black Stars have not had a clean sheet for six straight World Cup matches; in the process they conceded eight goals.
Portugal have managed to win only one of their last nine World Cup matches, which occurred four years ago against North Korea with a 7-0 score. The Portuguese side have lost four games and drew the equal amount.
Portugal (Possible, 4-3-3): Beto; Almeida, Costa, Alves, Pereia; Meireles, Carvalho, Moutinho; Varela. Ronaldo, Nani.
Ghana (Possible, 4-2-3-1): Dauda; Afful, Mensah, Boye, Asamoah; Rabiu, Badu; Atsu, J Ayew, A Ayew; Gyan.
