Tonight, Portugal and Switzerland meet in the last 16 of the World Cup. Switzerland's style is conservative and their midfield is a bit rusty, however, their defense strategy is quite unique. When facing Brazil, the backline was tight and united, and one-on-one defense was easy to handle; the core of the midfield, Fiona, played both offense and defense against Serbia, and the whole team showed their usual tough defense style.
Portugal's midfield duo yet to find best match
Although Portugal advanced to the top of the group, the encounter with South Korea has more or less exposed the problems at the attacking end. Although the lineup has multiple types of attacking players and can flexibly adjust the configuration of the midfield, it has not yet found the most tacit understanding of the partner. The performance of young players Zulfiarius and Rafaelio fluctuated, and veteran Cron failed to score in two consecutive matches, so the positional strategy was weak.
Coach Santos' Portugal team is conservative and fails to fully utilize the potential of their midfielders. Half a year ago in the UEFA Europa League, both sides won one match each, and Switzerland even shut out their opponents 1-0 at home, which proves that they are not to be underestimated.
It is worth mentioning that the Swiss team tends to be extremely cautious in knockout matches, and often draws in regular time. In the last European Cup, the Swiss scored 3 penalties, 1 in the final week of the World Cup, and 1 in extra time, so it's very likely that this "Portugal-Switzerland battle" will be a 90-minute battle.
