A wounded Portugal, still smarting from a 4-0 defeat by Germany, are fervently hoping that talismanic forward Cristiano Ronaldo is fit when they take on the US in their second World Cup Group G game today.
The thrashing was the biggest-ever loss Portugal have suffered at a World Cup and their misery deepened as central defender Pepe was sent off, while Ronaldo struggled for form as he battled a knee injury.
The World Player of the Year will need to be back to his best for the clash with the US, who surprisingly beat Ghana 2-1 in their opening game.
Photo: Reuters
Rumors about Ronaldo’s condition have been swirling across the Internet and officials were forced to deny reports that his personal doctor had advised him to quit the tournament.
A few days’ rest seem to have helped and his teammate Miguel Veloso said the player appeared to be in good shape.
“I’m not a doctor, but from what I see, Ronaldo is fine,” Veloso told reporters after a training session in Campinas. “He is training, he is jumping and he is shooting. There is not much else to say.”
Ronaldo, who was suffering from tendinosis in his left knee several weeks before the 32-nation tournament, was photographed walking out of Wednesday’s training session early with an ice pack on his left knee.
Also of concern to coach Paolo Bento is the need to find the right replacements for the suspended Pepe and injured leftback Fabio Coentrao, whose involvement in the tournament is over.
Goalkeeper Rui Patricio and striker Hugo Almeida were also nursing knocks, but have been ruled fit to play, although the latter could be dropped for Helder Postiga after a lackluster performance against Germany.
The US will hope to reproduce the inspired display from the 2002 World Cup when they beat Portugal 3-2 in the group stage, a win which helped them advance to the last 16 at the expense of their rivals.
US coach Juergen Klinsmann, who was in charge of his native Germany when they beat Portugal 3-1 in the 2006 tournament’s third-place match, said he expects Ronaldo to fire on all cylinders in the hot and humid city of Manaus.
Klinsmann also hopes that his walking wounded recover, in particular Clint Dempsey, who broke his nose after taking a boot to the face against Ghana shortly after scoring inside a minute.
“Now [Portugal] are going to come into Manaus pretty angry and I don’t know how Ronaldo is going to perform when he is angry. We need to show Portugal how good we are,” he said.
Klinsmann might ponder whether to start John Brooks, who scored the winner against Ghana on his World Cup debut after coming on as a substitute for Matt Besler, while striker Aron Johansson is set to replace the injured Jozy Altidore.
“You have got to deal with injuries,” the 49-year-old former international striker said. “It will happen more often in this World Cup. Players need to be ready.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB