World Cup 2014 Top teams: Group G - Portugal
Team profile
If there’s a team at the World Cup that fully depends on one player then it is certainly Portugal. All eyes will naturally be on Ronaldo in Brazil. He scored all four goals during the two-legged play-off against Sweden, including a stunning hat-trick in Stockholm.
Can the Real Madrid ace propel Portugal to World Cup glory in a similarly single-handed fashion as Diego Maradona has done so with Argentina in 1986? Odds are against this, underlined by the fact that they are not among the tournament favorites.
Paulo Bento’s main concern is most likely the lack of class in strikers as he cannot really rely on anyone else besides Helder Postiga and Hugo Almeida.
Strengths: Cristiano Ronaldo, good record at major tournaments
Weaknesses: too much dependency on Cristiano, no quality strikers
One to keep an eye on: William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon)
Possible line-up:
Worldcup14brussels projection: Round of 16. The Lusitans will go through Group G with wins over Ghana and the US but losing to Germany will only earn them a second spot. They will face Belgium in the Round of 16 and will fail to reach the quarterfinals.