USA vs Portugal – 2014 FIFA World Cup

Ronaldo scores a goal in the 75th minute to save Portugal from defeat at the hands of the U.S. in an offensive thriller.

This coming Sunday, June 22nd, the United States will take on Portugal in both teams’ second match of the 2014 World Cup. In the teams’ first games, The U.S. bested Ghana 2-1 and Portugal was blanked 4-0 in a lopsided loss to Germany.   

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Both teams will be without key players. American striker and main offensive threat, Jozy Altidore, suffered a strained hamstring in the opener.  Portugal center back Pepe received a red card by taunting a German player after the whistle, and is therefore unavailable to play in game two.  Portugal also lost another man in the back, as Fabio Coentrao suffered a leg injury that ended his hopes of playing again in this tournament. 

Update: Turns out, both teams did in fact play to a draw, though the score was 2-2.

We couldn’t wait until Sunday to see what happens in this matchup. In a simulation game using the expected line ups for Sunday’s contest, we put the teams through their paces to find out what EA Sports 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil game expects will happen on the pitch this weekend. In the video above, we clipped together the highlights of the simulated match.   

Check out the first clip of in-game action.  It seems as though even virtual referees can get calls wrong these days. As we slow down the clip for a closer look, an offside call was made, and in the replay it is clear the player was not offside!  This may have cost Portugal an early goal. 

The first goal of the match came when the team USA captain bulldozed defenseman Luis Neto to the ground and buried the ball in the back of the net.  Who knows if this would have happened if Pepe was active? Just four minutes later, a Portugal defenseman overran Dempsey again, clearing a path to his second goal of the match. 

Portugal came out flying after halftime, as Helder Postiga took full advantage of a beautiful lob pass from Nani for the first Portuguese goal of the contest in the 47th minute, just two minutes after the teams came out of the dressing room.  Just when it seemed Portugal was starting to control the pace, Dempsey notched his third goal of the game to complete his hat trick on a cross from Bedoya. 

Down 3-1, Portugal kept its foot on the gas and caught a lucky break when a ball bounced off a U.S. defender right to the foot of a waiting Joao Moutinho to bring them back within one.  Enter Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the world’s most dominant player.  Ronaldo squared up a U.S. defender in the 75th minute of the match and made quick work of getting around him into a shooting lane. CR7 buried the ball in the lower right corner of American goalie Tim Howard’s net to tie the game in spectacular fashion. Take a look at the fancy footwork in the slow motion replays. 

Captain Dempsey’s work was not finished after all, as he created space for teammate Alejandro Bedoya in the 83rd to finish what at the time seemed like the game-winner.  The U.S. tried to buckle down in the back end and ride out the rest of the storm.  In the 85th, just two minutes after it seemed all hope was lost, Moutinho lined up a corner kick.  He served the ball into the box and Bruno Alves came out of nowhere to deliver a header heard round the world to tie the game at 4-4.   

The game ended in a 4-4 tie, and both teams received a point towards their match totals, which eventually determine who moves on and who goes home.  If the action in Sunday’s game is anything like what we saw in this one, it will be must-see TV. 

Who do you think will win this weekend? Comment below and stay tuned to Prima Games for more World Cup forecasts.

Now find out which teams are the best in EA Sports 2014 FIFA World Cup!


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