Cristiano Ronaldo Fires Blanks Again as Portugal's World Cup Dream Fades

Portugal’s hopes of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa next year took a huge blow on Saturday night, as they were held to a goalless draw at home by a resilient Swedish side.

Carlos Queiroz’s team created more than enough chances to win the game but were once again found wanting when it came to their finishing, racking up their third consecutive 0-0 draw in the qualification group.

Back in October, they were held to scoreless draws in Sweden and then disappointingly at home to an Albanian side which played just over half the game with only ten men.

The home side dominated the first half at the Estádio do Dragão, as first Tiago then Cristiano Ronaldo wasted good opportunities. The closest they were to come was midway through the first period, when Duda’s cross from the left was misjudged by Isaksson in the Sweden goal and rebounded off the goalkeeper’s near post.

Chelsea’s José Bosingwa limped off injured just before the interval but the pattern of play remained much the same in the second half, although Sweden did threaten increasingly on the break, with Elmander forcing a smart, smothering save from Eduardo.

Simão and Danny fired wide and over from decent openings before Deco was introduced from the bench just after the hour mark with the hope of providing the ingenuity required to make the breakthrough. His low strike was kept out by Isaksson before he fired wide as Portugal gradually ran out of ideas.

The latest result leaves Portugal with a mountain to climb in terms of topping the group and gaining automatic qualification. They now trail Denmark by four points having also played a game more.

Denmark and Hungary both have a good chance to extend their lead at the top on Wednesday, as they host Albania and Malta, respectively, and could extend their lead over Portugal to seven points with home wins.

Queiroz will be hopeful of catching Hungary, as his side still have to play them twice but he will be more than aware that his side cannot afford any more slip ups on what is already looking a very rocky road to South Africa.

Portugal reached the semifinals last time out in Germany, but their World Cup record is generally very poor, having only ever qualified for four of eighteen finals. However, in their four appearances they have twice reached the semi-finals.

Whisper it quietly, but the FIFA Footballer of the Year is in danger of missing out on the world’s showpiece tournament if he and his team cannot drastically improve their form.

Portugal line-up:

Eduardo – Bosingwa (Rolando, 45), Carvalho, Bruno Alves, Duda – Raul Meireles, Pepe, Tiago (Deco, 61) – Ronaldo (c), Danny (Hugo Almeida, 65), Simão

Sweden line-up:

Isaksson – Nilsson, Mellberg, Majstorovic, Johansson – Rasmus Elm, Kallstrom, Svensson (S. Larsson, 80), Holmen (Wilhelmsson, 57) – Larsson, Elmander

World Cup Qualifying: European Group One

Denmark           4          10

Hungary            5          10

Portugal            5          6

Sweden             4          6

Albania             6          6

Malta                6          1