Portugal coach, Fernando Santos, claimed to be still looking and has not found the weakness of his opponent in the round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup, Uruguay. He also will give a special task to the captain, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Portugal and Uruguay will defeat each other for the sake of a quarter-final ticket at the Fisht Stadium, Saturday (30/06/2018).
For three games in Group A phase, Uruguay appear very strong in defense because it has never been conceded. Uruguay also won three victories over Saudi Arabia, Russia and Egypt.
On this basis, Fernando Santos admitted it would be difficult to beat Uruguay in the game later.
“It’s very difficult to find their weak side (Uruguay) but there is an area that we can (Portugal) exploit, I think we will even though Uruguay is a very strong opponent,” said Fernando Santos.
To dismantle the defense of Uruguay, Portugal will rely on Cristiano Ronaldo. According to Fernando Santos, Ronaldo will be given a special role in the game against Uruguay later.
“I hope all players can play with high concentration, we play a serious game, and we have to get the best out of them,” Santos said.
“If the team can play well and Ronaldo can run the role I give, we will win against Uruguay,” Santos added.
To date, Ronaldo has scored four goals and is just behind one goal from Harry Kane (England) who for a while leads the list of top scorers of the 2018 World Cup.
Uruguay will not provide special custody to Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo when both teams meet in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup. However, they are determined not to provide an opportunity for Cristiano Ronaldo to execute a dead ball.
According to Uruguay defender Sebastian Coates, Portugal is not just a Ronaldo. Therefore, he says his team will guard Cristiano Ronaldo as they guard the other Portuguese players.
“We will take care of it as we guard the other players, Cristiano is a world-class player, but you never prepare for a game against a single player, you have to prepare for the whole team,” Coates said.
Diego Forlan, Former Argentina players, did not deny that the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo would be very dangefous for Uruguay. But, Forlan confident that his country bottom line could paralyze Ronaldo. Forlan believed that against Ronaldo will be a very difficult task. But, Uruguay legend is convinced his country can overcome Ronaldo. Forlan is confident with the performance of Diego Godin and co.
“Ronaldo is a leader, he scores goals and he is very important to his country,” said Forlan.
“We are very strong team in defense and we have players in a very good defense, Ronaldo is a great player but I am confident with our defense,” Forlan added.
