SAO PAULO
Just after he was cut from the U.S. roster last month, right back Brad Evans posted this snarky tweet: “You got off easy this time @Cristiano.”
The Americans are confident their defensive depth can stop the two-time world player of the year when they play Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal on Sunday night in a World Cup match in the Amazon rain forest capital of Manaus.
“He’s a complete player,” midfielder Michael Bradley said Friday. “When you look at the game today, there’s such a premium on the physical aspect of the game – speed, strength, endurance – and he is a guy who checks all those boxes. And then when you talk about his technical ability – the way he shoots with his right foot, his left foot, how good in the air he is – he’s somebody who can make the difference at any moment.”
Coming off a 2-1 opening win over Ghana, the U.S. possibly could clinch advancement with a win and would put itself in excellent position with a tie.
Left back DaMarcus Beasley, central defenders Matt Besler and Geoff Cameron and right back Fabian Johnson figure to fixate on Ronaldo. Kyle Beckerman, Bradley and Jermaine Jones will assist in marking him from the midfield.
The 29-year-old forward with the perpetually gelled hair has topped 50 goals in four consecutive seasons with Real Madrid. He was voted FIFA player of the year in 2008, then in January ended Lionel Messi’s streak of four consecutive awards.
For six months, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been talking about how his first priority was the U.S. opener against Ghana, and his second was to “go to beautiful Manaus and expect Mr. Ronaldo.” Klinsmann, by the way, didn’t even have Ronaldo on his player of the year ballot; he voted Franck Ribery first, followed by Gareth Bale and Radamel Falcao.
Ronaldo has been bothered by tendinitis in his left knee for more than two months, and he wore a brace Friday during Portugal’s training session in Campinas.
“At the moment we certainly expect that he is going to play,” Bradley said. “A game of this magnitude, of this importance for both teams, you’d always expect that the best players are going to find any way to be on the field.”
The U.S. has experience going up against top players, keeping Argentina’s Messi scoreless at the 2007 Copa America and during exhibitions in 2008 and 2011. England’s Wayne Rooney was held without a goal in the Americans’ 2010 World Cup opener.
“We have a lot of respect for Cristiano. He’s a great player. But I think you have to respect for the whole team of Portugal,” Jones said. “When we stick together like a team and fight like we did it against Ghana, then I think we have chances to win this game.”
Goalkeeper Tim Howard says it has to be a group effort.
“Body language. Communication,” he said, “and just being able to be in the right spots.”
The U.S. said Besler’s sore right hamstring, which forced him from the opener at halftime, is fine, and he will be able to play Sunday. He did early work on the field Friday before the others.
Nestor Pitana of Argentina was selected Friday by FIFA as the referee. He worked Russia’s 1-1 tie against South Korea.
Portugal is coming of a 4-0 loss to Germany that cost it three starters: forward Hugo Almeida and right back Fabio Coentrao got hurt, and central defender Pepe was ejected.
“There’s two ways to look at it,” Bradley said. “One is that they lost 4-0, played 60 minutes down a guy, a few injuries. And it would be easy to look and say this is a good time to play them. But the other side says that it is ... in some ways a desperate team that is playing for their lives.”
