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Uruguay showed what mettle, sheer determination, and discipline could do in the biggest of stages as they kept Portugal at bay despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s team putting the pressure on the South Americans repeatedly. Oscar Tabarez’s men held on to their positions, regularly closing down the small spaces and the passing channels and dominated in the air to stifle Portugal throughout the game.
An Edinson Cavani brace ensured that Uruguay came out on top in the end, despite spending lesser time on the ball. Portugal put up a good fight, as they showed immense work-rate and tried to breach the Uruguayan backline and midfield lines but were pressed, and then spaced out of the game due to some astute defending. Here, we discuss five players who underwent completely different fortunes in this game:
5. Worst: Adrien Silva
Silva accompanied William Carvalho in the centre of the park and was supposed to provide some moments of spark and creativity in the midfield. On paper, Carvalhal’s rock-solid, no-nonsense approach is well supported by Silva’s deft touches and the ability to get into the half-spaces to influence the game. However, yesterday, Adrien tried to play it too safe, often-making sideways passes rather than incisive ones.
His game was devoid of any sort of creativity and Silva just bundled on Portugal’s problems by maintaining possession without offering penetration on the field. He took one shot, won no aerial duels, recorded one interception but still could not deliver any key pass.
His work on the field was limited to receiving and recycling possession, but Silva should have shown more industry in front of a resolute Uruguayan defensive line. His inability to carve out decisive passes, or to beat his marker by dribbles meant that Portugal looked listless at the centre of the park.
Ricardo Quaresma came on for Silva to offer much more creativity, drive, and incision from that part of the field. Overall, with two similar-minded players in Carvalho and Silva, Portugal failed to supply decent balls to the forward line.
4. Best: Lucas Torreira
While Portugal’s screening midfielders failed to stick to their duties, Uruguay were the fortunate ones as Lucas Torreira made sure that he blocked, cleared or tackled any ball before it came into the box. Playing in front of the duo of Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin, Torreira was energetic throughout the game as his ability to break the play and drive the team ahead meant that Portugal were caught off-position whenever Uruguay transitioned swiftly.
Lucas pressed the opponents well, displaying tremendous energy and tactical knowledge to know when to make the appropriate challenges. Torreira’s presence meant that the Uruguayan defence was even more compact, as he dropped back to add extra numbers in defensive situations. Lucas was safe with the possession of the ball too, distributing it to the flanks or lifting it high up for Cavani or Luis Suarez to chase.
Torreira blocked and cleared the ball on four occasions each, forcing Portugal to build the play from the back yet again. He intercepted the ball twice and put in one tackle, but if you look at it from a larger perspective, Uruguay wouldn’t have made it through the game if the backline didn’t have the support of Torreira ahead of them.
3. Best: Diego Godin
Godin was the heartbeat of this team, someone who made the whole game look simple. He was at the centre of the defence, marshaling the lads and ensuring that they stuck to their positions. Godin was vocal and proactive from the back, regularly arranging the midfield line whenever Portugal had the possession of the ball.
The Atletico Madrid stalwart’s positional sense was accurate, as he was always in the right spot to clear the ball and thwart the danger. Diego was safe with possession too but usually defended compactly, staying close to Ronaldo and putting in the challenges at appropriate times to win the ball back and recycle the possession.
He cleared the ball away on seven occasions, and most of the times these were deliveries sent into the box from the flanks in search of Ronaldo. Godin intercepted twice too, at crucial positions in and around the box, whilst also having made two important tackles in the game.
The centre-back delivered one key pass, further demonstrating his importance in both parts of the field. Even during set-pieces, Godin hardly afforded any space to the Portuguese players.
2. Average: Cristiano Ronaldo
In a game when the spotlight was on him, Ronaldo tried his best to influence the proceedings. However, lack of service in the first half, coupled with some unlucky moments and sturdy defending from Uruguay meant that Cristiano’s impact in the game was limited.
He switched to the flanks, played through the centre, positioned himself inside the box, tried to take long shots and tried to dribble from half-spaces too; but nothing seemed to work against such a well-organized defensive structure of Uruguay. Godin and Jose Gimenez saw off his danger through some good challenges and good defensive positioning too.
Ronaldo attempted six shots, delivered one key pass and completed five dribbles too. He also put in two crosses into the box, but the players were too scattered to get on the end of his deliveries. Maybe, if Bernardo Silva and Goncalo Guedes were a bit more industrious and creative with possession, Ronaldo would have got on the end of those passing triangles rather than having to cover for their positions on the wings.
1. Best: Edinson Cavani
On a night when Uruguay needed fire and passion to defeat Portugal, Cavani was the amalgamation of desire, determination and composure in difficult situations. Without the ball, he ran like a maniac, getting behind the loose deliveries and trying to drive the team ahead with quick sprints. His outrageous cross-field passes to the flanks to Suarez were beautiful and effective and helped Uruguay attack from spaces that had fewer Portuguese players.
He was effective while pressing the opposition, dropping back to defend and press the opposition as a unit. Despite being a forward, Cavani put up three tackles, clearly showing the tenacity and energy with which he played. He intercepted the ball once, and cleared it the same number of times, willingly playing a part in Uruguay’s strong defensive display.
Cavani’s finish for the second goal was supreme, as he adjusted to the awkward height of the ball and still managed to finish it to the far right corner despite his body being diagonally tilted to the opposite side. His first goal was even better from the build-up point of view as Cavani switched the play by passing it to Suarez on the opposite flank.
Then, Edinson made a ghost run from behind the defence and thumped an absolute belter of a header from the far post to give Uruguay an early lead in the competition. His energy and pace were embodiments of Uruguay’s style of play, and Edinson Cavani saw to it that they snatched a victory by putting up a tenacious fight.
