Presidential Of 2022 World Cup Last 16, Portugal Vs Switzerland: Ronaldo And Shaqiri Additional Missions

Cristiano Ronaldo (Twitterselecaoportugal)

JAKARTA - Portugal coach Fernando Santos has received encouragement after midfielder Otavio is ready to play in the match against Switzerland in the last 16 of the World Cup which will take place on Tuesday night.

After missing the last two games due to a thigh injury, the Porto midfielder will join his teammates.

Central defender Danilo Pereira, who suffered three rib fractures last week, has also recovered so he can be played immediately.

But his successor in the last two games, 39-year-old Pepe, may retain his place to be tasked with escorting Swiss strikerREel Embolo, who has scored twice in the 2022 World Cup.

Pepe will be paired with Manchester City centre-back Ruben Dias, who was rested when Portugal surrendered 1-2 to South Korea.

Santos was forced to rotate left-back after Nuno Mendes was absent due to injury against Uruguay.

Santos will also move Joao Cancelo to the left and include Diogo Dalot in the defense's right-wing position in the same formation as Portugal against Switzerland in the group phase.

Launching Antara, Tuesday, captain Cristiano Ronaldo this time carried out an additional mission, namely equaling the record for the most World Cup goals for Portugal currently held by Eusebio after scoring nine goals at the 1966 World Cup in England.

Meanwhile Switzerland also has a striker who is trying to break the record, namely Xherdan Shaqiri.

When scoring in the match against Serbia in the group stage, Shaqiri was the World Cup scorer with the most compared to other Swiss players.

He is now one goal adrift of six goals scored by Sepp Huegi at the 1954 World Cup which is the highest World Cup goal record in the history of the Swiss national team.

Shaqiri believes Switzerland have everything it takes to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

"We need special performance. Honestly Portugal is a good team and for me it's also a favorite of this game, but we also know our quality. We will try to do well, present special performances and try to outperform them," Shaqiri said as quoted by Reuters.

Predictions of the first eleven players

Portugal (4-3-1-2): Diogo Costa; Diogo Dalot, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo; Bernardo Silva, Ruben Neves, William Carvalho; Bruno Fernandes; Joao Felix, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Switzerland (4-2-3-1): Gregor Kobel; Silvan Widmer, Manuel Akanji, Fabian Schar, Ricardo Rodriguez; Remi Freuler, Granit Xhaka; Xherdan Shaqiri, Djibril Sow, Ruben Vargas; Breel Embolo.

Important statistics and head to head

Prior to this, the two countries had met 25 times, 11 of which Switzerland won and nine of them were won by Portugal.

Last June's Nations League were the last two meetings between them when Portugal won 4-1 in Lisbon, while Switzerland won 1-0 in Geneva.

Portugal won their first two group stage matches when they beat Ghana 3-2 and Uruguay 2-0, but lost 1-2 against South Korea after coach Fernando Santos replaced six of his first eleven-players as Portugal had already made sure to qualify for the last 16.

Switzerland also recorded two wins each over Cameroon 1-0 and against Serbia 3-2, but were beaten 0-1 by Brazil.

Portugal, who won Euro 2016, did not shine too well in the World Cup. They were eliminated in the first knockout round in the 2018 and 2010 editions, even eliminated from the group stage in 2014 and 2002. The best achievement was the 2006 semifinals.

Switzerland have qualified for knockout in three of the last four World Cups but have not reached the quarter-finals since the 1954 World Cup.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo needs one more goal to match Portugal's record for the most World Cup goals held by Eusebio with nine goals at the 1966 World Cup in England which was the only World Cup tournament that Eusebio participated in.

Xherdan Shaqiri's goal against Serbia in the group stage made him the World Cup's top scorer compared to any Swiss player. He also scored in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.

Shaqiri has one more goal to match the most World Cup goals owned by Sepp Huegi who collected six goals which were all created at the 1954 World Cup.