They all thought that avoiding the EunCester Championship title was a sign, but North Macedonia, which has beaten Germany and Italy in the past two consecutive years, is not a fish belly to be slaughtered. If it weren't for the 39-year-old Pepe' bravery, Portugal would have been so close to conceding the ball.
Who says it's terrible when people get old? The 39-year-old Portuguese god of war is still an indispensable mainstay of the team, and if he wants to achieve good results in the World Cup, the 39-year-old Pepe may be as important as the 37-year-old C Ronaldo.
01. From Hell to Heaven: Teammates make up Ronaldo's big pit
Portugal continue to pose Otavio and Jota in the front court to assist Ronaldo, because their enthusiasm for running is very high, which can bring more interludes and balls.
Because the past 2 opponents Turkey and North Macedonia are not particularly strong, the team arranged a technical flow team with strong running ability to support C Ronaldo behind the scenes, but still achieved good results.
It can be seen that this time Otavio has a timely second forward insertion after the lateral movement to do the ball. If C Ronaldo is decisive and straight, Ottavio may even get a one-handed opportunity directly, but unfortunately C Ronaldo hesitated.
Eager to do more on his own, he was instantly surrounded and then lost the ball in a pass error.
Portugal was very dangerous at this moment, because the backcourt was a 2-on-2 counterattack, but Moutinho, B Silva and Otavio, who had already rushed to the top position of the front, sprinted back to the defense at full speed, defusing the crisis of the team.
Moutinho wrapped his arms around his opponent first, and then B Silva moved widely to jam the position, allowing his teammates to retreat into place. The value of Ottavio is to run back and forth a lot of front and midfield, one is to save Ronaldo's physical strength, and the other is to balance the team's attack and defense.
The most terrifying thing about Portugal is that after successfully retreating, it instantly finds the rhythm of pressing the speed. B Silva and C Ronaldo tested the opponent at the same time, and B fei completed the break with a forward insertion, and gave the ball to C Ronaldo's feet.
If Ronaldo can pick up the ball, it is a one-handed knife, but unfortunately, the 37-year-old is a bit hesitant in his first step, and it is obviously difficult to directly enter the box. Considering the previous mistake, this time C Ronaldo played very selflessly, he chose to pass B fee, helping the latter to shoot and score to break the deadlock.
Through the team's unremitting efforts and running back and forth, C Ronaldo has changed from a sinner who almost gave his opponents 2-on-2 counterattack opportunities to a selfless pass to help the team break the deadlock.
02. Pepe's Ability to Turn the Tide & C. Roy's Inability to Do So
Ronaldo's performance in this game is difficult to describe as outstanding, 3 shots on goal and 0 shots on target, while 3 one-on-one confrontations at the foot were all defeated, and 11 balls were conceded, which was a relatively poor stat in his recent matches.
Even after taking the lead, Portugal is actually very close to conceding the ball, and under this round of offensive and defensive conversion, the 39-year-old Pepe deserves the 37-year-old C Ronaldo shouting: My good big brother!
The source of everything comes from C Ronaldo's high position of pressing hard enough, so that the opponent can easily send high-quality long passes at the backcourt.
In portugal's backcourt, Pepe needs to face Pandev's top star in North Macedonia after his retirement. The attacker, who played for Napoli in Serie A, was about to run a one-handed ball and was stuck in the position by Pepe.
It was not easy for Pepe to get back into place early, and everyone thought Elmas could get at least one shot on goal. As a result, just as he was about to kick his feet, Pepe blocked the ball strongly, making Elmas cry without tears.
North Macedonia was then given a second chance to attack, but was destroyed by Pereira. Portugal, which fought back on the spot, got a chance through William Carvalho's clever pass.
It is worth noting that in the moment of Carvalho's pass, C Ronaldo was in an offside position, but fortunately, B Fei plugged in the ball in front of the high speed, which resolved the problem.
B Fee's clever pass found C Ronaldo, who was in the box, who could complete his favorite way of scoring with a poke in front of the goal.
A magical scene happened, the unknown Man who played in the Croatian league, Varkovsky, behind the scenes, destroyed Ronaldo's must-score, leaving the latter in vain.
In this game, the 39-year-old Pepe handed over a defensive answer sheet of 3 steals, 1 interception and 3 clearances, while winning 6 head-to-head and foot one-on-one confrontations, and creating 3 fouls against the opponent. If it were not for the return of Pepe, it is really difficult to say whether Portugal could qualify.
03. 37-year-old 5th World Cup: Will Ronaldo positioning be more team-oriented?
In this World Preliminary Tournament play-off, Ronaldo won 8 shots in two games, and 5 excellent scoring opportunities, but unfortunately he missed them.
In this game, C Ronaldo won a single knife in the opening 13th minute, but unfortunately, he was not confident in his own speed, he directly shot with his left foot, and the ball was slightly offside, missing the opportunity to open the record first.
Coupled with the goal of being released by Warkovsky, if he was in better shape, Ronaldo should have scored twice.
Fortunately, Portugal is really much stronger than before, and through the efforts of the team, it still brought the 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo into the World Cup. In qatar at the end of 2022, will Ronaldo give his teammates a return? I believe he will cherish this hard-won opportunity.
Conclusion:
Portugal's biggest problem is that while the team has a large flow of midfield skills, the core players at both ends are too old. Pepe, 39, and Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, shoulder the heavy responsibility of attacking and defending the team.
Facing Turkey and North Macedonia, Otavio, Jota and B Fee can make a difference, so can they continue to work hard when they come to the World Cup? Now C Ronaldo may be difficult to target the World Cup Golden Boot, but more or play a role as a spiritual leader and on-the-spot conductor.