Portugal are heading into the World Cup's group of death, and they might do it without their best player completely healthy. Cristiano Ronaldo has not been able to train since joining the Portugal squad after Real Madrid's Champions League triumph and will not play in their match against Greece on Saturday.
Portugal vs. Greece, 2014 World Cup friendly: Preview, TV schedule and how to watch online
Cristiano Ronaldo is resting. Time to see what Portugal can do without him.
Ronaldo has a slight calf problem that is unlikely to keep him out of the start of the World Cup, but it’s one more injury in a long string of small knocks that have kept him from being the best version of himself in the second half of the season. Hopefully a couple of full weeks off will allow him to get back to full fitness before the World Cup.
Paulo Bento has also announced that he will be resting Ronaldo’s club teammate Pepe, who went into the Champions League final with a slight injury issue as well.
The big news on the Greece side is that Fulham striker Kostas Mitroglou is expected to start. He only made three appearances for the Cottagers after his £12m move in January, with manager Felix Magath saying he wasn't fit enough to start for the club. Greece will be hoping he can find form and fitness quickly.
World Cup
Projected Portugal lineup: Rui Patricio, Fabio Coentrao, Luis Neto, Bruno Alves, Joao Pereira; Miguel Veloso, Raul Meireles, Joao Moutinho; Silvestre Varela, Hugo Almeida, Nani.
Projected Greece lineup: Orestis Karnezis; Jose Holebas, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Kostas Manolas, Vasilis Torosidis; Giannis Maniatis, Kostas Katsouranis, Giorgos Karagounis; Giorgos Samaras, Kostas Mitroglou, Dimitris Salpingidis.
With Ronaldo and Pepe rested, expect to see Silvestre Varela and Luis Neto get starts for Portugal. Pinning down the starting Greece midfield isn’t easy due to their heavy rotation in the position, but if both Karagounis and Katsouranis got call-ups for this tournament, they’re probably going to play.
Match date/time: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio do Jamor, Oeiras, Portugal
TV: ESPN Deportes (U.S.), OTE Sport 1 (Greece), RTP 1 (Portugal)
Online: ESPN3 (U.S.), RTP International (U.S., U.K. and Canada)
Listings via LiveSoccerTV.
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