By: Carlos Salinas, special envoy
All of Portugal celebrates after achieving an important 2-0 victory against Uruguay and securing their spot in the round of 16 of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
The Portuguese, motivated by their victory over Ghana and the recent triumph of the African team against South Korea, came out to propose from the initial whistle.
Meanwhile, the 'charrúas,' despite having alternatives to play a more associative game, decided to show their accustomed fighting game, with a lot of friction and aerial play.
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Although the champion of the 2016 Euro Cup had more approaches to the opponent's goal, the lack of clarity in the last quarter of the field postponed the expected Portuguese goal celebration.
However, all of Portugal's efforts bore fruit at minute 54, when Bruno Fernandes took a shot from outside the area and Rochet, who was confused by the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo just a few meters away, failed to prevent the 1-0.
Fought. Suárez was very close to scoring for the celestes. Photo: EFE
Needing a goal to not depend on others, Diego Alonso made use of his bench to get out of this predicament; however, the worst came true for the 'charrúas' in the final minutes.
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The referee was called by the VAR to check a handball by José María Giménez in the Uruguayan area. After reviewing the play, Alireza Faghani decided to award the penalty for the European team.
Bruno Fernandes (90+3') was in charge of the shot from the twelve yards to seal his brace and the triumph of his team that will allow them to compete in the next round of the World Cup.
"It was a difficult match. Our rival made things quite complicated for us. They pressed us a lot, we had difficulties moving the ball, but we managed to find some spaces. We had control of the match and good chances. Uruguay played very well. It must be recognized," declared Fernando Santos, coach of Portugal, in a press conference.
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After securing their spot in the round of 16, the Portuguese will fight to finish the group stage in first place when they face South Korea at the City of Education Stadium on Friday, December 2.
Furthermore, Cristiano Ronaldo, with the hunger for glory that characterizes him, will try by all means to extend his goal-scoring record and establish himself as the top scorer in national teams throughout history.
Loyalty. The Portuguese fans cheered on their team tirelessly. Photo: EFE
On the other hand, Uruguay complicates its aspirations to continue in the World Cup, so they will have to defeat Ghana in the next match and hope for a draw or defeat for the Koreans to enter as second place.
"We must insist on the work, between both matches we hit the post three times, we must not lose either optimism or faith and we must keep trying. I tell the people to believe, this does not end until it ends, and we are going to give everything in the next match to win and qualify," said Diego Alonso, coach of the 'charrúa' team.
Uruguay, far from giving up, will do everything in their power to secure a spot in the next phase of the most acclaimed event in the 'beautiful game' globally.