Important match: Portugal-Uruguay, a different story from 2018
The poster for the 2022 World Cup between Portugal and Uruguay on Monday will be “a whole different story” compared to the duel won by Celeste (2-1) in the round of 16 in the previous edition, in 2018, South American coach Diego Alonso estimates on Sunday. Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva, for his part, ensured that the Seleçao, who will progress to eighth place in Qatar if successful, were “ready” before facing Uruguay with their backs to the wall after an early draw against South Korea (0-0).
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The Uruguayans, winners 2-1, stood out for their realism and “CR7” for their fair play. At 37 for Ronaldo, and at 35 for the Suarez-Cavani couple, this is probably one of the last confrontations between these big names in football. And if the intensity is as crazy as it was four years ago, spectators at Lusail Stadium this Monday night (8pm) can rub their hands.
The team: Cameroon wants to get out of the tunnel
Lions too easy to tame: beaten in the last eight World Cup matches, Cameroon chases the past luster and hopes to defeat Serbia to stay in the race in the 2022 edition, this Monday (11:00) at Al-Janoub . Outclassed by Brazil (2-0), their opponent is in the same situation, backed to the wall with zero points on the clock.
Defeated at the start by Switzerland (1-0), the Cameroonians lost all momentum once behind. However, they have to find the way to victory to get out of a very strong group, with Brazil as opponents in the third game. The last time they won on the world stage was in 2002. Coach Rigobert Song tackled on the pitch, captain’s armband, and the president of the Federation (Fécafoot), Samuel Eto’o, scored the only goal of the match, against Saudi Arabia (1-0).
>> READ ALSO : Find all tournament results and standings
Since then, the “Indomitable Lions” have known only setbacks, some painful, such as the 4-0 against Croatia followed by the 4-1 against Brazil in 2014. They are far from the 1990 epic, where the team, led by 38-year-old striker Roger Milla, it became the first African selection to reach the quarter-finals. Since then, Cameroon have won just one game in 13 in 32 years against the “Green Falcons”.
The player: Yann Sommer, the Swiss guardian angel
Ready to concede against the Brazilians on Monday, Switzerland is also counting on its guardian angel: Yann Sommer, a specialist in penalties and saves on his line and already the hero of the Azzurri’s elimination at the European Championship. “Miraculous crossing of the panther and the cherub”, the Swiss newspaper 24 ore marveled a year ago, the goalkeeper has long been so adored at home as he is underestimated abroad, a fault of one meter and 83 which excludes him from the world elite.
Humble and smiling, an amateur guitarist in love with architecture, this father of two little girls has everything to seduce Roger Federer’s country. But much more than his ideal son-in-law image, it was a crazy evening in Bucharest that brought the Mönchengladbach goalkeeper to full light on 28 June 2021, when Nati offered the world champions scalp to win his first match since 1938. To reach the quarter-finals of the Euro, the Swiss had come from behind two goals with 15 minutes remaining, before Sommer qualified them by eliminating Kylian Mbappé’s shot on goal (3-3 ap , 5-4 tabs).
>> READ ALSO: Dates, times, results… the complete calendar of the tournament in Qatar
Isolated outbreak? The episode above all sums up the 33-year-old goalkeeper’s main strength: not always inspired in his rebounds, perfectible on his feet, Sommer is formidable on his trajectory, with a liveliness that allows him to dive in at the last moment.
2002
2002 semi-finalists South Korea at home and Ghana, 2010 quarter-finalists in South Africa, meet on Monday (14:00) with the prospect of elimination if the Blacks lose. .
