In an attempt to shift attention away from the never-ending Cristiano Ronaldo's legacy, Portugal will face Ghana in their World Cup 2022 Group H opener on Thursday at Doha's Stadium 974.
In a complicated situation, Fernando Santos' team will also face Uruguay and South Korea, while their African opponents have an uphill task to reach the knockout rounds.
Match preview
Recently, one man has dominated headlines both within and outside of Portugal. Former Manchester United player Ronaldo launched a stinging assault on the team in an interview with Piers Morgan, which might result in his leaving Old Trafford at best or in being fired and sued at worst.
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, made an unexpected appearance at a news conference earlier this week to urge that attention be directed toward the game rather than his activities as he frantically tries to lead Portugal finally win the big one
after multiple World Cup losses too.
Despite being a well-known footballing nation, Portugal has only reached the World Cup semifinals twice, in 1966 and 2006, and has failed to go beyond the round of 16 in four of their previous five games.
The Selecao lost to fellow Group H opponents Uruguay in the round of 16 in the World Cup finals four years ago, and although thrashing Nigeria 4-0 in a friendly last Thursday, they have only managed a pitiful three victories in their past 11 games.
Santos' squad has failed to win any of their past three opening games on the world's greatest stage, so quick beginnings have not been a motif for Portugal at the World Cup. Ghana must put on their finest shooting shoes if they are to get past a Portuguese defence that has only conceded two goals in their last seven games.
Following a brief break from the World Cup in 2018, Ghana has returned to the tournament and has already set their sights on sweet retribution in Group H. Uruguayan villain Luis Suarez has been waiting patiently for 12 years after channelling his inner goalkeeper to keep the Black Stars from making it to the semifinals.
Ghana is getting up for its fourth World Cup appearance since 2006, and the African nation has only been eliminated in the group stage once before. The two sides will pick up the war on December 2.
But that unfortunate exit occurred on their most recent trip in 2014, where they were eliminated without a victory. Earlier this year, before Otto Addo took over, the Black Stars had lost all three of their games at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Ghana enters the World Cup having won seven of their past eight games in all competitions, maintaining clean sheets in all of those wins and only losing to Brazil during that spell. They also thrashed Switzerland 2-0 in a friendly match last week.
In this level of football, Portugal and Ghana are not strangers; at the 2014 World Cup, Ronaldo helped the A Selecao defeat the Black Stars 2-1, and a similar performance here would aid him in his effort to gain headlines for the right reasons once more.
Team News
Nuno Mendes has had a scare with an injury, but Santos should otherwise be working with a completely fit squad this week. Santos is faced with some good selection challenges, particularly in goal, where Diogo Costa will want to push off Rui Patricio in a competitive race for the gloves.
Without any major concerns, Bernardo Silva and Ronaldo can be anticipated to play in the starting lineup. The competition for the last offensive position now includes players like Joao Felix, Rafael Leao, Otavio, and Andre Silva; the AC Milan starlet's talent on the left side should work in his favour.
Similar to how Ghana's manager Addo should have every player available for the first game, the Black Stars manager faces the best type of selection dilemmas after resting several key players in last week's victory over Switzerland.
For instance, players like Thomas Partey, Kamaldeen Sulemana, and Alexander Djiku who were benched for that game in which Andre Ayew and Jordan Ayew both started, will all want to be back in the starting lineup.
Andre Ayew, who currently plays for Al-Sadd in Qatar, would create history if he played in this match by accruing the most World Cup appearances by an African player with eight, although Sulemana and Inaki Williams could start as favourites.
Portugal's possible starting XI:
- Joao Cancelo
- William Carvalho
- Diogo Costa
- Raphael Guerreiro
- Ruben Dias
- Bruno Fernandes
- Rafael Leao
- Ruben Neves
- Pepe
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Bernardo Silva
Ghana's possible starting XI:
- Ati Zigi
- Lamptey
- Amartey
- Djiku
- Kudus
- J. Ayew
- Partey
- Baba
- Williams
- Sulemana
- Abdul Samed
