France will play Portugal today for the Euro 2016 championship at the Stade De France at 19: 00 GMT.
Portugal’s Chances Analysis
It seems to me that Portugal has a path to victory: play ultra-defensively and try to sucker punch France with a breakaway goal or goal on a set piece.
This was the approach used by Greece to win Euro 2004 against all odds (in the final Greece beat Portugal 1-0). It was the formula Holland almost succeeded with in the 2010 World Cup final against a clearly superior Spanish side.
And it’s a formula Portugal is well suited to employ. Who better than Cristiano Ronaldo to poach a goal against the run of play. If Ronaldo can’t do it, Nani isn’t a bad candidate.
Moreover, Portugal proved it can stifle a potent offense by holding a very good Croatian team scoreless in the Round of 16 match. Other than Pepe (who reportedly will be fit for the final), Portugal has no great individual defender. But the back four is well organized and the defensive midfielders are effective, albeit crude at times.
France Chances Analysis
France is heavily favored, and rightly so but i don’t mean to say that Portugal is without hope.France is the home team. Its squad is superior to Portugal’s. And France has been the better team throughout the tournament.
France is coming off of a 2-0 victory over Germany, about which more later. Portugal can’t point to any result that’s nearly as impressive.
France were somehow lucky to beat Germany. First, Germany was missing three starters, two of whom (Khedira and Hummels) are world class stars in my opinion. When Boateng came off injured, Germany had to play most of the second half without four starters, three of whom are world class.
France has won five out of its six matches in regulation time (the exception was draw against a pretty good Swiss side). Portugal has only won one of its six matches in the 90 minutes. That was the semi-finals against depleted Wales.
Team News
William Carvalho is likely to return to Portugal’s starting line-up after missing their semi-final with Wales through suspension, while Pepe still struggles for fitness.
The Real Madrid defender sat out Wednesday’s night clash with a thigh injury, and trained alone yesterday in a bid to prove his fitness. Should he miss out in Paris, veteran Bruno Alves will likely start.
For hosts France there are no fresh injury concerns to trouble coach Deschamps, who has named an unchanged XI for the first for last Thursday’s semi-final.
Prediction : France 2 Portugal 0
EURO 2016 Finals Preview : France Vs Portugal
No comments:
Post a Comment