Uruguay Battle Past Portugal In Round of 16
It was not Uruguay's finest performance, but the result is what counts for La Celeste . Oscar Tabarez had called on his players to be calm and collected and, leaving aside his irrepressible strike force, that is what made the difference in midfield and defence. Uruguay, the team with the best defensive record in the group stage at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia with zero goals conceded, held firm to sink Portugal 2-1 in Sochi on Saturday to set up a quarter-final tie against France. Edinson Cavani's early opener from a superb Luis Suarez cross put La Celeste in the driving seat, enabling them to sit back and soak up the Portuguese pressure. The European champions huffed and puffed but could not blow down the Uruguayan house, searching in vain for a moment of magic from Cristiano Ronaldo, who passed up a presentable chance from a dangerously positioned free-kick. It was from another sort of dead-ball delivery that Portugal found a chink in the armour, Pepe equ...
