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Portugal vs Ghana – World Cup: Team news, potential lineups & prediction.
The lead-up to what is presumably Cristiano Ronaldo’s final World Cup with Portugal has been dominated by the forward’s fallout with Manchester United. Portugal’s 2022 World Cup run will get underway against a young, energetic Ghana team. The Black Star will attempt to cash on this victory.
Ahead of the competition, most of the discussion surrounding Portugal has been on Cristiano Ronaldo’s controversial comments and if the inclusion of two additional Manchester United players will cause a rift within the team.
They’ll be eager to demonstrate that hasn’t been the case by winning the opening match against Ghana, but the Black Stars will feel confident about their chances after recently defeating Switzerland 2-0.
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Team News:
Ronaldo, who has been embroiled in controversy off the field, missed Portugal’s victory against Nigeria due to sickness, but the 37-year-old says he will be ready to play in Thursday’s opener.
As a result, Santos should have a fully fit squad available to him this week. As a result, he will have some selection difficulties, particularly in goal, where Diogo Costa will be vying with Rui Patricio for the goalie position.
Without any major concerns, Bernardo Silva and Ronaldo can be expected to play in the starting lineup. This leaves players like Joao Felix, Rafael Leao, Otavio, and Andre Silva to compete for the final attacking slot; the AC Milan starlet’s skill on the left side should be 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 kind of selection dilemmas after resting some key players in last week’s victory over Switzerland.
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Thomas Partey, Kamaldeen Sulemana, and Alexander Djiku, for example, will all anticipate returning to the starting lineup after being benched for that match in which Andre Ayew and Jordan Ayew both played from the start.
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 for an African player with eight, but Sulemana and Inaki Williams might start as favourites.
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Possible Lineup:
Portugal’s possible starting lineup:
Costa; Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Guerreiro; Neves, Carvalho, Fernandes; B. Silva, Ronaldo, Leao
Ghana’s possible starting lineup:
Ati Zigi; Lamptey, Amartey, Djiku, Baba; Partey, Abdul Samed; Sulemana, Kudus, J. Ayew; Williams
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Score Prediction:
The Portuguese team is definitely one of the best in the world, but recent results haven’t been spectacular, and the controversy surrounding Ronaldo hasn’t helped.
On the other hand, Ghana’s recent performances have been remarkable, and they have a great collection of players, particularly up front, who shouldn’t be underrated.
Be prepared for a tighter game than most people are anticipating, and don’t be shocked if Ghana wins the match with the star and performance of the Portugal team thing might turnaround
Prediction: Portugal 3-1 Ghana