Russia vs. Portugal | Confederations Cup Preview

The Stanislav Cherchesov’s men made a good start of The Confederations Cup. They achieved a 2-0 victory against New Zealand and are lying in the first place of Group A with the three points. The Russians’ victory was deserved, as they totally outplayed their opponents. If they keep playing like that, the Portuguese will have serious problems in keeping their sheet clean.

On the other hand, Portugal had a very difficult first game against Mexico. The match finished with a 2-2 draw. The Santos’ players missed the chance to take the three points just a few seconds before the final whistle, so they must regret about that score.

To continue with, that’s the first participation at the Confederations Cup for both nations. However, the Russians have the advantage to play at home, so they can be considered as one of the favourites to proceed to the semi-finals. On the other hand, you mustn’t underestimate the European Champions – Portugal. They are experienced enough the take the maximum from every single game.

Head 2 Head

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and Portugal have met on 6 occasions. When playing at home, the Russians have won 2 of the 3 games – both with the correct score of 1-0. The third match has ended with a 0-0 draw. The Portuguese players have won 3 matches, including the smashing 7-1 victory at home in October 2004. It’s interesting that Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in that match. He is the only remained player in Portugal’s squad from that game.

Possible Starting XIs:

Russia (5-3-2): Igor Akinfeev; Feodor Kudryashov, Viktor Vasin, Georgiy Dzhikiya, Alexandr Samedov, Yuri Zhirkov; Aleksandr Golovin, Denis Glushakov, Alexandr Erokhin; Dmitriy Poloz, Fyodor Smolov.

Portugal (4-5-1): Rui Patricio; Pepe, Jose Fonte, Cedric Soares, Raphael Guerreiro; Nani, Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho, William Carvalho, Andre Gomes; Cristiano Ronaldo.

I don’t know what beautiful is. I know that pretty things exist, but what is beautiful for me is not beautiful for someone else. For me winning games is beautiful. Fernando Santos

The Prediction: Russia 1-1 Portugal (correct score)