World Cup: USA vs Portugal preview

After the World Cup draw it looked like the Americans wouldn’t be able to advance out of the group. They were grouped with Germany, the European team with the best odds to win the World Cup, Portugal, a team that is loaded with talent playing at the biggest clubs in Europe including 2013 FIFA Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ghana, the team that eliminated them from the last two World Cups.

Only two teams out of the group could advance to the knockout stages, and the Americans didn’t look like to be one of them. The tournament for the Americans began with against Ghana, a game labeled as a must win if they were to advance out of the group stage.

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Less than a minute into the game, Clint Dempsey scored to put the Americans in the lead and all that doubt and worrying seemed to calm down, but things took a turn. Midway through the first half center forward Jozy Altidore pulled up on a run with a strained hamstring and left the game early, then Dempsey was kicked in the face, breaking his nose in the process.

In the 82nd minute Ghana scored to tie the game and all the worry and doubt came back into play. Then defender John Brooks headed a ball into the back of the net minutes later to seal the win for the Americans and move them into second place with three points.

Earlier in the day, Germany had thumped Portugal to the tune of 4-0. That dropped Portugal, but they were also playing with only 10 men after Pepe was sent off with a red card. That red card would force Pepe to miss the game against the Americans. To make matters worse, Portugal lost defender Fábio Coentrão for the tournament.

Both of those matters could come into play in helping the Americans win a game they might not have expected to. On Saturday, Germany was held to a draw against Ghana, giving the Americans an opportunity no one expected.

If they could beat Portugal, they would be in first place in the group and they would have locked down a spot in the knockout round. The first team in the “group of death” to do so. Their final game against Germany would likely determine who finished first and second in the group, but the Americans would only need to play for a draw to stay in first.

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The importance of finishing first versus second is because of seeding, the winner of this group plays the runner-up in Group H, which contains Belgium, Russia, South Korea and Algeria. Finish as a runner-up in the group and you’re likely slated to face off against Belgium, a dark horse contender for the World Cup trophy. Winning Group G sets up a match with either Russia, South Korea or Algeria, and makes the road to the quarterfinals easier.

The Americans still have to get past Portugal though, a tough and talented squad that is capable of scoring goals in bunches. Namely behind superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. There have been conflicting reports about whether Ronaldo would play or not, he has been dealing with a knee injury and was reportedly going to miss the game.

Then there were reports that he wouldn’t miss the game.

With The Portuguese side facing elimination, it’d be hard to imagine Ronaldo sitting the game out according to midfielder Michael Bradley.

“At the moment we certainly expect he’s going to play,” midfielder Michael Bradley said, via U.S. Soccer’s website. “A game of this magnitude, of this importance for both teams, you’d always expect that the best players are going to find any way to be on the field. When you play against good teams, when you play against good players, it’s important to prepare in the best possible way. I think we’ve done that. I think we’ll continue to do that today and tomorrow. We understand what a special player he is, we understand how good of a team they have, but it’s not something that fazes us. We’re excited by the challenge, we’re excited by the moment. We feel like we’ve put ourselves in a good position, but still, everybody is mindful of the fact that it’s just one game. Now, to follow up a good start to the tournament with another result, that’s the only thing we’re worried about at the moment.”

The Americans still have to figure out how to replace Jozy Altidore, and will likely do so with forward Aron Johannsson who subbed on for him against Ghana. It could also be forward Chris Wondolowski, but neither bring the skill set that Altidore possesses and they know it.

“Jozy is a special player. You can’t replace him; that’s like saying, ‘Hey go be Cristiano Ronaldo’. You can’t necessarily replace certain aspects of it, but I think that both Aron and I bring different styles, different sets of skills that are useful and I think that’s what we have to do is incorporate those skill sets and be able to fit into the game plan as well,” Wondolowski said. “We’re going to have to do certain things that Jozy didn’t and did do, and we’re also going to have to be able to incorporate our style as well, so it’s just kind of managing those two things.”

Wondolowski added: “It’s a big loss losing Jozy. He’s been playing really well and is in great form, but I think our roles are going to stay the same. I know for myself and Aron that we’re both going to be ready to play at any minute and just looking for the opportunity and making the most of it whenever we get the chance.”

Johannsson added: “Both Wondo and I have different styles than Jozy. If either one of us gets on the field then we just try to play our game and try to do what the coach wants us to do. If that’s to play like Jozy, then we’ll try to do that and if he wants us to play like we normally play then we’ll try to do that.”

Neither knows who will start to replace Altidore yet.

“It’s the coach’s decision. Whenever he’s ready to let us know who’s going to start, then he’ll do it,” Johannsson said. “We just have to wait until he makes his decision.”

While losing Altidore might be a knock for the Americans, Portugal lacking Coentrão and Pepe on their defensive line can help who ever replaces Altidore to succeed. Neither American forward would admit to that however.

“Truthfully, I don’t think it changes our approach at all,” Wondolowski said. “I think that we’ve had the same game plan whether the defenders were in there as well. I know that those are two big guys that they have lost. But I think that our game plan is still going to be the exact same and we’re just going to go out there and try to execute it. That’s been our MO since day one. What we found at Stanford is whatever 11 guys that go out there, we have done a great job of being able to adapt to certain game plans and certain strategies. Our coaching staff does a tremendous job of putting together these plans and we just have to go out there and execute.”

It is a big game for both teams and will be a thrilling match. Both teams have their own set of hurdles to overcome and the stakes on this game couldn’t be higher. For information on how and where to watch, visit our guide.

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