I'm hoping Portugal is motivated for this tournament. I think we will win 3-2 in a very exciting game.
Line up prediction: Ronaldo---Silva----Nani -Gomes--William-Moutinho Raphael-Pepe-Fonte-Cedric -----------Patricio--------------- Pepe should be healthy, taking his starting CB role. Bernardo hasnt played well for Portugal.. and Gelson looked awful his last time out (tho it was his first start). Not sure where Santos confidence lays in either Gelson/Bernardo at this point. I would personally start: Ronaldo-Silva-Gelson Adrien-William-Bernardo -Raph-Pepe-Fonte-Cedric ---------Patricio
That's most likely the starting line up. Expect Mexico to have a lot of the ball as that is our slowest possible midfield but also the most tactically aware so they should cause the speedy Mexicans frustration and be very dangerous in release for counters.
Possible line-ups Portugal: Rui Patricio; Bruno Alves, Jose Fonte, Raphael Guerreiro, Cedric; William Carvalho, Joao Moutinho, Andre Gomes; Nani, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andre Silva Mexico: Guillermo Ochoa; Carlos Salcedo, Hector Moreno, Nestor Araujo, Miguel Layun; Jonathan Dos Santos, Hector Herrera, Andres Guardado; Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez, Raul Jimenez What you need to know 1. The only player at Russia 2017 who knows what it means to win the FIFA Confederations Cup is Rafael Marquez, who lifted the trophy in 1999. The Mexico captain is struggling with a back problem, however, and is a doubtful starter for his side’s opener. 2. The last time these two sides met was in a warm-up match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ in Foxborough (USA) in June of that year. Bruno Alves won the game in injury time for the Portuguese, powering a header past Guillermo Ochoa from a free-kick. 3. Three Mexican players (Raul Jimenez, Miguel Layun and Hector Herrera) play their club football in the Portuguese league – Jimenez with reigning league and cup champions Benfica and Layun and Herrera with Porto. The trio will no doubt have plenty of useful information to pass on to El Tri coach Juan Carlos Osorio. http://www.fifa.com/confederationscup/matches/round=274633/match=300334878/preview.html
I was so pumped for this game until I heard the horrible news about the Forrest fire near coimbra that killed 62 people so far. Those poor people. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40316934
Moving photos here, all those workers are total heroes: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/18/world/europe/portugal-pedrogao-grande-forest-fires.html
Official line up from Fifa.com.... Rui Patrício; Cédric, Pepe, José Fonte e Raphael Guerreiro; William Carvalho, João Moutinho e André Gomes; Quaresma, Ronaldo e Nani. Good to see Pepe back in the line up. Surprised we're going with older guys up front, with Nani and Quaresma starting and Andre Silva being benched. Hopefully, Andre Silva, Bernardo and Gelson get a chance against New Zealand, at least.
Santos' lineup appears a bit too conservative and defensive IMO. Mexico's decent, but it isn't a powerhouse.