bluesfan94
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Teams: Portugal v. Switzerland
Time and Date (CST): Tuesday, December 6, 2022, 1:00 PM
Venue: Lusail Stadium
Storyline: Another intra-confederation matchup, this matchup features two teams with seemingly opposite storylines. Portugal comes into the tournament with a remarkable amount of talent, but performances that sometimes seem like less than the sum of their parts, while what Switzerland may lack in elite talent, they make up for with team spirit and grit. Going into the tournament, the storyline about Portugal was about whether this would be Cristiano Ronaldo's last chance to win a World Cup. As the World Cup began, the storyline stayed on the mercurial Ronaldo, but focused instead on his inflammatory interview with Piers Morgan, which resulted in him leaving his club team, Manchester United. Portugal features two other United players and there were concerns about team chemistry. However, Portugal's first two matches helped assuage concerns. A theatrical Ronaldo performance earned the Portuguese a penalty, which Ronaldo finished coolly. The Ghanaians equalized shortly thereafter, but Bruno Fernandes assisted twice in quick succession. A late Ghana goal ratcheted up the pressure and Ghana had a couple looks to equalize in stoppage time. Portugal's next match against Uruguay contained less drama, although Ronaldo still did try to claim a Fernandes goal that maybe took some gel off his hair. Fernandes got his brace with a stoppage time penalty, ensuring Portugal's advancement from the Round of 16. A rotated Portuguese side took on Cameroon with little to play for, and even a late Cameroon winner will do little to remove Portugal from the favorite role in this matchup.
Switzerland, too, managed to find a little bit of drama, albeit late in the group. Switzerland won its first matchup against Cameroon in a game that was fairly evenly matched, but where Cameroonian-born Swiss striker Breel Embolo's clinical finish won the match for the Swiss. They then faced off against group favorites Brazil, who required a late, one-time volley off the backside of the Swiss defense to take all three points, although it must be noted that Switzerland failed to test the Brazilian goalkeeper. This set up a potentially fiery match between Switzerland and Serbia, as Switzerland's side features many Balkan players. One of them, Chicago Fire's Xherdan Shaqiri, scored the opening goal, but Switzerland's defensive gaffes allowed Serbia to go up by the 35th minute. Embolo got his second right before halftime, as the teams went into the break level. Early in the second half Remo Freuler atoned for a costly first half gaffe with what proved to be the winner. Late in the second half, tempers flared in a match that saw 11 yellow cards handed out. Switzerland seemed content to hold the lead, although, with a Cameroonian winner in stoppage time, another Switzerland goal could have won them the group.
Unsurprisingly, these UEFA members have faced each other on numerous occasions, with this being the 27th matchup. Portugal has won 9 and lost 11, with the teams drawing on 6 occasions. These teams did faceoff twice this year in the UEFA Nations League, Portugal winning 4-0 at home while dropping the away match 1-0.
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