Every time a world cup is about to begin, every team starts talking about how difficult group it is in and why they would have to fight to their core to make it to the next level. This is also not a new thing that high profile teams, who are among the list of probable winners, are leading these objections despite the fact that governing body carefully place each team in a respective group covering a mix of top sides and underdogs. For now, we are talking about Portugal national team who has ever been one of the strongest contenders for the FIFA title and its captain Cristiano Ronaldo who recently said since they are in the toughest group; they should not aspire for the title. This is indeed a strange comment coming from FIFA player of the year award winner who has once been the priciest player as well, in fact, everyone expected him to lead the team with unparalleled confidence but his downhearted statement could rater be a demotivating factor for the entire team. Portuguese are in Group G with powerhouse like Germany and promising Ghana along with underdog USA. AS far USA is concerned, they can easily bypass them however as far Ghana is concerned, this African side is capable to surprise anyone, hence no one should take them easily.
Germany is going to be their biggest threat for the next level; hence Rolando would have to rethink his strategy for the mega soccer event in Brazil. In his blog post, he denied to be labeled as the favorite and said, “We are not favourites, indeed, but we will, as always, try to do the best possible. We know that we have a difficult group stage. In fact, in my opinion, it’s the strongest group of the World Cup, but let’s take one step at a time. We have ambition, but with the awareness that we have to set ourselves some goals, step by step, game by game. Calmly but with confidence.
“We know we have an important match against Germany, the first one in the competition, then against Ghana, and finally against the United States. Our goal is obviously to pass the group stage. Then we’ll see.”
Finally, if a player like Ronaldo, who has archived so many significant feats in his successful career including scoring maximum number of goals in a single championship league season, is skeptical about their show in the world cup how can others be ensured for a successful Brazilian tour? Think about it!