European champions Portugal will look to get as ready as they can before their first match for the World Cup, where they will play host to Spain in the most crucial match of the group. They haven’t done a very good job in their friendlies so far, and that’s why they chose Algeria as their next opponent, in order to build up some momentum.
Portugal were engaged in a really competitive and quite balanced friendly match against Belgium on Saturday. They were actually much better in the first half, but they were really pressured in the second to eventually hold out for a goal-less draw. They have now won just one of their last five friendlies, but they didn’t have Cristiano Ronaldo in any of their last two. They will now be boosted by the return of star-player Cristiano Ronaldo, and they should be able to get a better view of their starting line-up.
Algeria will not be traveling to Russia over the summer, as they struggled really hard in the Qualifiers. They finished at the bottom of Group B (0-4-2) that also featured Nigeria, Zambia and Cameroon, failing to win any of their six matches. They don’t have a very easy way to score, while their defense will surely be stressed by the Portuguese. Algeria have not been any good in their friendlies lately, having lost each of their last three against Cape Verde (3-2), Saudi Arabia (0-2) and Iran (1-2).
