A GLANCE at the world rankings would suggest there can only be one winner in Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier in Faro (kick-off: 7.45pm Irish time).
Portugal sit eighth, 39 places above Ireland in 47th.
Fernando Santo’s side also currently sit top of Group A on seven points, having picked up two wins (1-0 v Azerbaijan and 3-1 v Luxembourg) as well as a draw (2-2 v Serbia, having led 2-0 at half-time).
Ireland, by contrast, have yet to pick up a point, following narrow losses against both Serbia and Luxembourg.
And while it has evidently been a difficult period for the Boys in Green, a closer look reveals Portugal are also not without their problems lately.
Their squad to face Ireland features most of the key players from Euro 2020, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruben Dias and Diogo Jota.
However, for varying reasons, there are seven players selected over the summer that are now not there — Rui Silva, Nelson Semedo, Joao Felix, Renato Sanches, William Carvalho, Jose Fonte and Sergio Oliveira. In their place come Diogo Costa, Gonçalo Inácio, Domingos Duarte, João Mário, Otávio, Ricardo Pereira, João Cancelo (who missed the Euros after testing positive for Covid) and Pedro Gonçalves.
While the Portuguese have enjoyed a decent start to World Cup qualifying, they were widely perceived as one of the big disappointments of the Euros over the summer.
They began with a 3-0 victory over Hungary that flattered them when you consider the first goal was scored in the 84th minute.
Their unconvincing defence was then exposed in the 4-2 defeat by Germany, and Stephen Kenny will have noted how wing-backs Robin Gosens and Joshua Kimmich gave the Portuguese a particularly torrid time down the flanks during that highly entertaining and open affair.
They then did just about enough to progress from the group stages, earning a 2-2 draw with France, before bowing out in the Round of 16 following a fairly tepid 1-0 loss to Belgium.
It was an underwhelming defence of a crown they had claimed against the odds five years previously, thanks to a 1-0 extra-time win versus France courtesy of a spectacular winning goal from Eder, the forward, now 33, who is currently without a club having played for Lokomotiv Moscow up until last season.
The Euro 2020 failure led to question marks over the future of Fernando Santos.
The coach controversially dropped Bruno Fernandes from his starting XI during Euro 2020, and the team seldom played the type of football befitting the level of quality they had at their disposal.
It has been suggested in some quarters that Santos’ overly conservative style fails to get the best out of certain individuals and that a more adventurous coach would produce better results.
Yet Santos, perhaps deservedly, has retained considerable stock from the unlikely Euro 2016 triumph, and consequently remains in the job.
As recently as the summer of 2020, the 66-year-old manager signed a contract extension to keep him in the position until after the 2024 Euros.
But the events of this summer, coupled with the similar disappointment of the 2018 World Cup, when Portugal were beaten by Uruguay in the Round of 16, has added to the sense that major improvements are required for Portuguese fans to keep faith in the Santos project.
The positive signs will be expected to become swiftly apparent against the Boys in Green on Wednesday, with Santos warning that his team cannot afford to take their upcoming opponents lightly: ”Ireland works a lot, fights a lot. If we’re not at our best level, we could have problems,” he was recently quoted by The Irish Independent as saying.
“The Irish national team played an excellent game in Serbia, for example. You have to respect your opponent a lot.”
One man who will hardly need much motivation tomorrow is Cristiano Ronaldo.
With 109 goals in 179 appearances, the 36-year-old superstar needs just one more to eclipse Iran legend Ali Daei and become the highest international goalscorer of all time.
Yet that milestone has been overshadowed in recent days, on account of Ronaldo’s sensational return to former club Man United.
The fact that the Red Devils are willing to pay reported wages of £480,000 a week (€560,000), making him the highest-paid player in the Premier League, illustrates the esteem in which the veteran striker continues to be held by many people at the top of the game.
On the other hand, questions have been asked as to whether Ronaldo fits the system at United and indeed Portugal, given his unwillingness to press and tendency to create as many tactical problems as solutions, following three not-unequivocally-successful seasons at Juventus, winning two Serie A titles, but failing to take the Turin club to the next level in the form of Champions League glory. Given the ex-Real Madrid star’s exceptionally high standards, he will surely look back on his time in Italy with a degree of regret.
You could call his presence a potential problem, but it’s one Kenny would certainly love to have — needless to say, there is no player in the current Irish squad anywhere near Ronaldo’s level.
Ireland’s World Cup qualifying hopes look extremely slim as it stands. Under the circumstances, even emulating the Irish team of 2000, who managed to secure a point in an early World Cup qualifier away to Portugal, would surely go down as one of the all-time great performances for the Boys in Green.
With just one win in 13, Kenny, like his Portuguese counterpart, is under pressure to deliver better results.
Anything other than a loss would go some way towards alleviating that issue. However, all footballing logic suggests such an outcome represents wishful thinking from an Irish perspective, with Portugal’s superiority expected to tell at Estádio Algarve ultimately.
Portugal squad:
Goalkeepers – Anthony Lopes (Olympique Lyon), Diogo Costa (FC Porto) and Rui Patrício (Roma)
Defenders – João Cancelo (Manchester City), Ricardo Pereira (Leicester City), Domingos Duarte (Granada CF), Gonçalo Inácio (Sporting CP), Pepe (FC Porto), Rúben Dias (Manchester City), Nuno Mendes (Sporting CP), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders – Danilo Pereira (PSG), João Palhinha (Sporting CP), Rúben Neves (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United FC), João Mário (SL Benfica), João Moutinho (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC) Otávio (FC Porto )
Forwards – Bernardo Silva (Manchester City FC), André Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus FC), Diogo Jota (Liverpool FC), Gonçalo Guedes (Valencia CF), Pedro Gonçalves (Sporting CP) Rafa Silva (SL Benfica )
Possible starting XI: Rui Patricio; Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Guerreiro; Moutinho, Danilo; Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Jota; Ronaldo.
