Rumors swirled on Thursday that Portugal would start Cristiano Ronaldo up top with two wingers flanking him, but Helder Postiga has made the starting lineup. That means that Ronaldo will operate in his usual spot, on the wing. The rest of Portugal’s team is very standard, and they should have an advantage in the center of midfield.
Portugal vs. Sweden, 2014 World Cup qualifying: Lineups
Portugal have opted to start a recognized center forward up top instead of Cristiano Ronaldo, who will start on the wing. Sweden will play Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the hole.
Sweden starts Zlatan Ibrahimovic in his usual spot for them, in the hole behind Johan Elmander. Alexander Kacaniklic gets the nod out wide ahead of Ola Toivonen and Sweden’s two natural wingers, Jimmy Durmaz and Erkan Zengin.
Portugal lineup (4-3-3): Rui Patricio; Fabio Coentrao, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Joao Pereira; Miguel Veloso, Raul Meireles, Joao Moutinho; Cristiano Ronaldo, Helder Postiga, Nani
Sweden lineup (4-2-3-1): Andreas Isaksson; Martin Olsson, Mikael Antonsson, Per Nilsson, Mikael Lustig; Rasmus Elm, Kim Kallstrom; Sebastian Larsson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexander Kacaniklic; Johan Elmander
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