{"id":37857,"date":"2026-06-23T20:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&p=37857"},"modified":"2026-06-23T20:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:00:23","slug":"portugal-seek-sharper-edge-against-uzbekistan-after-blunt-start","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/portugal-seek-sharper-edge-against-uzbekistan-after-blunt-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Portugal seek sharper edge against Uzbekistan after blunt start"},"content":{"rendered":"
Portugal had plenty of the ball in their World Cup opener, but little bite and Roberto Martinez\u2019s side return to Houston on Tuesday needing a sharper attacking display against Uzbekistan after a frustrating 1-1 draw with Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/div>\n
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The numbers told a familiar cautionary tale. According to Opta, Portugal completed 783 passes against the Africans, fewer only than Spain\u2019s 800, and topped the possession chart with 75%.<\/div>\n
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Yet all that control produced seven shots and only one on target Joao Neves\u2019s sixth-minute header.<\/div>\n
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For a team carrying high expectations around Cristiano Ronaldo and an array of attacking options, the struggle came not in circulation of the ball but in the final third, where creativity, decision-making and finishing deserted them.<\/div>\n
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Portugal\u2019s shot count was among the lowest of the opening round, with only five of the 48 teams managing fewer, while Spain, despite being held 0-0 by Cape Verde, attempted 27 shots.<\/div>\n
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Martinez will hope for a more ruthless display against an Uzbekistan side beaten 3-1 by Colombia in their first-ever World Cup match, a debut marked by nerves and caution.<\/div>\n
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Uzbekistan coach Fabio Cannavaro said the occasion weighed heavily on his players.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI told them they were too nervous. That\u2019s why, in the end, they focused so much on defending,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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The Italian, winner of the 2006 Ballon d\u2019Or, believes the pressure of their World Cup bow has now passed and pointed to Uzbekistan\u2019s second-half chances against Colombia as evidence they can trouble Portugal.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe have plenty of quality to be a top Asian team, but of course we have to grow,\u201d he added.<\/div>\n
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Portugal trained in Palm Beach on Sunday, with Benfica centre-back Tomas Araujo again working separately as he continues specific recovery work after starting against DR Congo.<\/div>\n
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Cristiano Ronaldo, who played the full match in the opener and came in for criticism, remains central to Portugal\u2019s story at 41.<\/div>\n
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\u201cCristiano is an example because of his career, because of the hunger he still has at his age,\u201d winger Francisco Conceicao said. \u201cFor us and for the new generation, he\u2019s a role model.\u201d<\/div>\n
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For Portugal, though, inspiration alone will not be enough. Against Uzbekistan, Ronaldo must step up and do what is expected of him as the target man in his team\u2019s attack.<\/div>\n
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\u2014Reuters\u2014<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":34900,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-37857","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The numbers told a familiar cautionary tale.","published_date":"","news_description":"The numbers told a familiar cautionary tale.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37858,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37857\/revisions\/37858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=37857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}