The Portuguese soccer team seeks this Saturday to secure a place in the semifinals of a World Cup 16 years later, having to beat the ‘surprise’ Morocco in the quarterfinals of the competition, in Doha.
After 1966 and 2006, Portugal secured, on Tuesday, the classification for the ‘quarters’ for the third time in history, thanks to the win by Switzerland (6-1), and on the two previous occasions it reached the semifinals, the first of what would mean the best performance in the history of the ‘quinas’, a third place, in England.
The team led by Fernando Santos will face a rival they faced in the 1986 and 2018 World Cups, both in the group stage, and who surprisingly beat Spain in the round of 16, in a penalty shootout, after a ‘null ‘ (0-0) at the end of extra time.
Against the Moroccans, the Portuguese coach must not change the ‘formula’ that allowed Portugal to ‘run over’ Switzerland, once again relegating Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench and keeping Gonçalo Ramos, author of a hat-trick, in the ‘eleven’. against the Swiss.
Portugal and Morocco will play starting at 6:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. in Lisbon), at the Al Thumama Stadium, in Doha, in a match that will be led by Argentine referee Facundo Tello.
In the last match of the quarter-finals, scheduled for 10:00 p.m. local time, European runners-up England and world champions France will meet at Al Bayt Stadium in Al-Khor.
The winner of this match will face Portugal or Morocco in the semifinals on Wednesday, while on Tuesday the other semifinal will face Argentina with Croatia.
On Friday, the world runners-up eliminated Brazil on penalties after drawing 1-1 after extra time, while the Argentines beat the Netherlands 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw at the end of 90 minutes. . .
The 2022 World Cup final is scheduled for December 18 at Estádio de Lusail.
Source: TSF
