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Today at 21:45 Lithuanian time, the second round match of Group A will take place between the national teams of Portugal and Russia. The match will be held in Lisbon, at the largest tournament stadium Estadio Da Luz, which accommodates about 65,000 spectators.
Both teams lost in the first round on Saturday, so only a victory in today's match would open up the opportunity to compete for a place among the top eight strongest national teams in the old continent.
The coach of the tournament hosts, Luiz Felipe Scolari, has no reason to worry about injuries in this match, as all of his players are healthy. Russian coach Georgi Yartsev's players are also injury-free. The biggest question bothering Scolari is which players to choose to make the team perform optimally. It is most likely that Deco will replace the visibly underperforming Rui Costa in the safe midfield, and Simao Sabrosa will replace Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a goal in the first match. The Portuguese press claims that there is a high chance we will see Ricardo Carvalho, Petit, and Nuno Valente instead of Fernando Couto, Maniche, and Rui Jorge, who are not currently in their best sporting form.
In the Russian ranks, two changes are expected after the last match against Spain. Dmitri Loskov should replace Alexander Mostovoi, who was expelled from the team, and we should see Alexei Bugayev instead of Roman Sharonov, who received a red card.
Predicted starting lineups:
Russia: Ovchinnikov; Sennikov, Bugayev, Smertin, Evseev; Kariaka, Loskov, Aldonin, Alenichev; Sychev; Bulykin.
Portugal: Ricardo; Paulo Ferreira, Rui Jorge, Fernando Couto, Jorge Andrade; Maniche, Costinha, Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco; Pauleta.
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