World Cup 2014. Play-off round. Portugal vs Sweden preview.

All other qualification play-off matches are shaded by the clash of Portugal and Sweden, or, precisely, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Clash of the Titans

There might be twenty two players on the pitch tonight in Lisbon, but for most football amateurs it’s all about two colossuses in modern game, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the leader of Paris Saint-Germain and Sweden national team, and Cristiano Ronaldo, the brightest star in Real Madrid constellation and the captain of Portugal selection.

It is hard to believe but one of them is not going to Brazil come next summer.

Road to success

Paolo Bento’s team have stumbled at the start of qualification campaign, losing to Russia 0-1 and drawing with Israel 3-3 and Northern Ireland 1-1. Despite improving their performance as time went by, Portugal did not manage to catch Fabio Capello’s Russia and finished second. Helder Postiga was the best striker with six goals in nine matches. Ronaldo netted four times in eight games.

The Blue-Yellow squad were unlucky to face Germany in qualifying group but managed to produce two fantastic matches (4-4, 3-5) against Bundesmannschaft and finished ahead of Austria and Republic of Ireland. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a top striker with six goals in nine matches.

Paris Saint-Germain forward claimed ahead of the fight: “World Cup needs me more than Cristiano Ronaldo. I can give more emotions to the fans and net brilliant goals. I think football amateurs would like to see me better than him. Looking back I can say I have never played better”.