Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji has referred to as Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo a ‘objective machine’ whereas saying that it is very important stay near him in an effort to forestall the ahead from scoring.
The Selecao are set to face the Swiss within the spherical of 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday. They gained Group H after accumulating six factors in three video games, whereas their opponents got here second in Group G.
Switzerland are underdogs on paper right here and are cautious of Ronaldo, who’s most certainly to steer the road for Portugal as soon as once more. Akanji revealed his plans to cease him.
Talking to the press forward of the conflict, the Manchester Metropolis man mentioned (through GOAL):
“Regardless that he is older now, he is an unimaginable objective machine. You possibly can’t give him any house within the penalty space. When he will get to the ball, the ball is often inside. It’s important to be very near him.”
Certainly, Cristiano Ronaldo stays a menace contained in the field, however he is had a tricky FIFA World Cup marketing campaign in Qatar up to now. The 37-year-old scored a penalty of their opening recreation win over Ghana, however has struggled to make an impression from open play.
His efficiency in Portugal’s 2-1 loss to South Korea of their closing group match was broadly deemed the worst of the spherical, with Ronaldo even liable for Korea’s first objective.
Age has visibly caught up with him, whereas his struggles on the membership stage with Manchester United within the months main as much as the FIFA World Cup are additionally to play a job right here.
If that wasn’t sufficient, Ronaldo was additionally named in SofaScore’s worst XI of the group levels with a mean ranking of simply 6.37.
Cristiano Ronaldo will likely be trying again on his Nations League heroics in opposition to Switzerland for motivation forward of their FIFA World Cup conflict
Simply six months in the past, Portugal thrashed Switzerland 4-0 within the UEFA Nations League, with Cristiano Ronaldo netting a first-half brace. He may very well be trying again on that match for motivation forward of their World Cup conflict.
The previous Actual Madrid ace boasts a superb report in opposition to the Swiss with 5 targets in opposition to them total, having additionally scored a hat-trick within the 2018-19 Nations League semi-finals.
This would possibly simply be the fixture he wants to seek out his ft and salvage his match, which is presumably his final in Portuguese colours.
