It is the final day of group action at the FIFA World Cup on Friday and the first group to conclude of the two that are still outstanding is Group H. It does so with the likely winners of it, Portugal, taking on South Korea.
Portugal have already qualified regardless of what happens here and a draw will ensure they win the group. South Korea can still make it through but they have to win this match and then hope that the other game goes their way.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the BBC 1 channel in the UK with the build-up to it beginning at 2.30pm and kick off coming along at 3pm.
South Korea
I think it is fair to say that this hasn’t been a particularly promising campaign for South Korea so far. They have only really played in it when they were forced to by Ghana and you would imagine their campaign is highly likely to end here. It might be that the win the game and even that isn’t enough here but the very least they have to do is their side of the bargain and win the game and hope that Uruguay win the other game and send them through.
If South Korea are going to win this game then you would imagine that they have to start it much better than they have started their matches in the tournament to date. They really offered nothing against Uruguay in their opening match and it wasn’t until they were 2-0 down to Ghana before they played in that match. One issue South Korea could have is while their head coach Paulo Bento will know all about the opposition, he won’t be in the dugout after his red card after the Ghana game.
Portugal
This has been a typical Portugal campaign in a tournament so far in that they haven’t looked unconvincing for the most part but they have somehow got two wins on the board and with that they have already qualified for the knockout stages. If winning the group is important to them then they need a draw to be certain of that but it might be that they top the table even with a defeat if the other match doesn’t yield a Ghana win.
That means Portugal may well do what France did in one of the earlier groups and use their squad players to get them up to speed. Whoever plays for Portugal in this match, given that there isn’t a lot of competitive pressure on them, we would like to see a really positive attacking display from them. It doesn’t tend to be the way they go about their work but with younger players on show it would be nice to see exactly what they have to offer.
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Team News
It looks as though South Korea could be without Kim Min-jae for this match as the calf issue he went off with against Ghana hasn’t cleared up in time. Hwang Hee-chan is another who is not likely to be involved here.
Portugal have had their left-back Nuno Mendes ruled out of the remainder of the competition with the thigh injury he picked up against Uruguay so Fernando Santos will be forced into a change. Raphael Guerreiro is expected to come in. Danilo Pereira is still injured while Otavio could miss out too. Cristiano Ronaldo could be rested.
Betting
I think we are going to get goals here. Whether they come early or late in the match South Korea have to look to win the game. If they don’t win the match they are out of the tournament. Portugal don’t need to score but much like England in a similar position earlier in the week, they might find that goals come along naturally. I also sense there are going to be some Portugal changes for this match so we might see their younger players offer a little more.
Both of these teams have shown a defensive weakness in the tournament. The woodwork twice saved South Korea against Uruguay in their opening match and then Ghana put three goals up against them. The woodwork saved Portugal against Uruguay too and Ghana scored twice against them so both these defences have shown they can be got at. If Portugal score first South Korea have to open right up much like Japan did on Thursday evening. If South Korea score then you would imagine Portugal will come out and play as not winning the group could see them run head first into Brazil in the round of 16. However, whenever and wherever goals come here I like over 2.5 of them.
Tips
Back Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with BetVictor
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