Wednesday, June 26, 2013

2013 FIFA U-20 Match Preview: Portugal vs. Cuba

Fresh from their defeat against Nigeria, Cuba isn’t likely to see its fortunes improve as it faces the tournament favorites on June 27—Portugal.

The team led by Edgar Borges already downed Nigeria 3-2 the other day. Unlike the Flying Eagles, Portugal will not allow scoring opportunities to slip by unnoticed. In particular, striker Alberto Aladje and winger Bruma can easily blaze through the defenses of untested opponents like Cuba.



Raul Gonzalez’s team will have to use up all their speed and strength if they are to stand a chance against Portugal. However, their status as debutants, combined with Portugal’s dominance on the field, means that it’s exceedingly unlikely that they’ll win this match. The Cubans haven’t made an appearance in the international scene since the 1938 senior FIFA World Cup, so they have a lot of catching up to do.

Edgar Borges and Co. need a high-scoring victory over Cuba if they are to secure their top spot in Group B. As for the Cubans, their consolation is that they’ve been presented with this great opportunity to make a name for themselves, and that they have plenty of chances to do better next time.


Prediction: Portugal will win by at least 3 points over Cuba, which will score only one or no goals. 

Photo credit: marktci from Toronto, Canada (Flickr) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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