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Scotland Face Big Task Against Portugal

The UEFA Nations League has been catching the attention of most football fans over the last few days, given that domestic football has taken a back seat to the international break. Alas, while that may make sense, there are also a parade of different friendlies that have caught our eye too. Of course, the need for friendlies is something that often confuses the masses, although we’re confident in saying that we’re going to get an entertaining game out of the encounter that we’re choosing to focus on. We are, obviously, referring to Scotland vs Portugal.

These two nations have had very different trajectories over the course of the last few decades, and that’s putting it lightly. The Scots have been desperately trying to qualify for international tournaments to no avail, whereas Portugal have slowly been building their way up to the point where they’re capable of actually winning one. They achieved that goal two years ago when they won UEFA Euro 2016, but the big task now will be for them to prove that they still belong amongst football’s elite. So then, it wouldn’t be all too inaccurate to suggest that there’s a good chance this could wind up being a mismatch.

Even with that kind of thought process, though, it’s important to keep an open mind. It would be pretty easy for us to write this off as an irrelevant game, if only because it’s officially being dubbed as a friendly, but it shouldn’t be that easy. Every single game of professional football that is played has some kind of meaning, even if it’s only for either one of these teams to build some momentum as they continue on their UEFA Nations League journey. Alas, whatever happens, we’re confident in saying that we’ll see a competitive encounter.

Thankfully, given the nation of the UNL and the expansion of the European Championships, the Scots should be much more hopeful of qualifying for the tournament than they may have been in the past. It may be misguided given that there are still plenty of nations who can edge their way into proceedings, but there’s just something about the Scottish that means you can never rule them out. On the opposite end of the spectrum, however, you also never know what kind of Portugal side you’re going to get on a month by month basis – as we saw back in France two years ago.

It would certainly be fair to suggest that the home side have had a tough time of things in their last six games, and as they prepare for a big crowd at Hampden Park, they’ll be hoping they can improve on their recent form. A 1-0 win against Hungary back in March was followed up by three consecutive defeats at the hands of Peru, Mexico and Belgium, with a narrow triumph over Albania doing little to settle their nerves. The loss against Israel earlier in the week was viewed as a huge disappointment, too, signalling to many that there’s still a long road ahead for them.

Portugal, on the other hand, are aiming to bounce back from a somewhat disappointing World Cup campaign. After an entertaining draw against Spain they edged past Morocco before drawing with Iran, and they then crashed out at the Round of 16 stage against Uruguay. A 1-1 draw against finalists Croatia followed that in September, with back to back wins against Italy and Poland giving some fans hope that they’ve got the potential within their squad to go to Euro 2020 in a few years time and replicate the success they had back in 2016.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QE-RMad_Ns

This won’t be the first time that these two countries have squared off in international competition, with Portugal leading the overall head to head standings 7-4 with three draws between them. They haven’t played one another since way back in 2002, though, when the Portuguese eased to a 2-0 win in a friendly that came just a few months after the 2002 World Cup. Of course, a lot has changed since then, and it’s staggering to see how much of an influence one world class player (Cristiano Ronaldo) has had on a nation that otherwise would never have been viewed as one of the world’s best footballing sides.

In the wake of the embarrassment against Israel it’s highly expected that Alex McLeish will make some big changes, in order to try and freshen things up a little bit. Oli McBurnie and James Forrest both came on as substitutes in that game and showed some promise, with many clamouring for them to start against Portugal. It does seem, at its core, that the squad selection revolves around some of the more ‘stereotypical’ stars – when in reality, there are plenty of young and hungry Scots out there who are just dying to try and make a name for themselves.

The big story coming out of the visitors’ camp is, of course, that Cristiano Ronaldo will not be present for this game. Thankfully, this removes the excuse for players and fans alike to get all giddy overseeing the world class superstar in the flesh – and instead, they can focus on actually trying to win the game. Bernardo Silva and Andre Silva were the star men against Poland and that’ll likely be what they try and enforce in this one, with there being a very good chance that the same starting XI is put out there.

Scotland vs Portugal Betting Prediction

Getting physical is going to be the smartest way forward for the Scots in this game, especially if they’ve got a great atmosphere to build off of from the crowd. The Portuguese have skilled players littered throughout their squad but if they can be unsettled from the very start of the game, then the home side could have some success. Portugal also seem to be struggling from a defensive standpoint, either, although you have to wonder how much of an attacking threat McLeish’s men will pose.

We think that Portugal will, in fact, come away with the victory, but it’s probably not going to be quite as convincing as most people would’ve initially thought. Scotland probably won’t have much to offer but Portugal are probably going to take this quite lightly given it’s a friendly, although we’re really hoping for something that’s more entertaining than anyone could’ve imagined. A goalfest would be nice, but if we’re going to go out on a limb and provide you with an official prediction, we’ll say 2-0 to Portugal.

But whether it lights the world on fire or it doesn’t, we’d still encourage you to to tune in, if only to see where both nations are at.