By Gasper Crasto / Kuwait
There’s a kind of euphoria among Goans when Portugal plays.
Our India may not be playing in Euro 2020, but the Portuguese legacy in Goa and certainly Cristian Ronaldo draws our hearts closer to `As armas! As armas Portuguesa’ - Portugal’s national anthem.
Viva Goa Viva Portugal !!!
An action-packed matchday is awaiting today with the world’s
top teams France, Germany, Portugal, all featuring in today’s ‘Group of Death.’
PORTUGAL DID NOT IMPRESS (ME)
In the last match, Portugal beat Hungary 3-0 but they did not convince me.
Portugal could only win in the final minutes of the game, after a rebound goal. Until that moment, everything seemed to indicate that 0-0 was going to be the final score of the match.
And Cristiano Ronaldo who, despite the fact that he ended up scoring 2 goals, one of them from a penalty, in the last minutes, had not played a good game until that moment.
GERMANY TO REVENGE
Today’s match Germany has a home advantage.
The Germans, whose physique is like heavy-weight boxers, will certainly dictate the style of play. They have goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, arguably the best goalkeeper in the world.
That said, let’s not act like Portugal has no star power. They have Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the defining images in world football and some of the best players – Ruben Dias, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, etc.
After losing their opening game against France, Germany desperately need to win.
Germany lost against France 1-0, thus complicating this group. I say, the reality is that, with a draw Germany can put their team back on track, assuming they will beat Hungary in the last group match.
Remember that 4 of the 6 third-placed in the groups go to the round of 16, so third-party options are important. To maintain this option, it will be vital not to lose this match for Germany and to opt for at least 4 points in the group.
MY PREDICTION: GERMANY 3 PORTUGAL 1