{"id":13050,"date":"2021-06-27T16:50:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-27T16:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=13050"},"modified":"2021-06-27T15:10:09","modified_gmt":"2021-06-27T15:10:09","slug":"last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020","title":{"rendered":"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Uganda<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Fernando Santos has admitted Portugal are already playing catch-up with Belgium today, with Cristiano Ronaldo and their last-16 opponents two days ahead in their recovery.<\/p>\n

Portugal occupied every position in the group during their 2-2 draw with France on a dramatic night, but eventually finished third and consequently must will take on Roberto Martinez\u2019s men in Seville.<\/p>\n

The round of 16 clash will give Ronaldo the chance to become the record goalscorer at international level after he equalled Iran\u2019s Ali Daei\u2019s tally of 109 with a brace against France.<\/p>\n

Santos struggled to hide his frustration at a quick turnaround, especially with Belgium concluding their group on Monday.<\/p>\n

Recovery days<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cResting is very important. We will have to mitigate this 48-hour difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to recuperate the players and have them fresh for the next match. I thought for what they played today, they have managed to recharge their mental batteries and right now we have to eliminate the fatigue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to face very high temperatures but this is not a handicap for us. We are going to study our opponent.\u2018We already know them but we will see what changed and we will prepare this match with our idea to progress.\u2019<\/p>\n

A Ronaldo double from the penalty spot was cancelled out by two goals from his former Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema on Wednesday, as a draw for France was enough to secure top-spot in Group F.<\/p>\n

Belgium are looking scary this summer, with three wins from three in the group phase as their talented attack fired-in seven goals. However, Thomas Vermaelen believes it is unfair that Belgium had to travel for all their games.<\/p>\n

Vermaelen angry<\/b><\/p>\n

The Group B winners played in St Petersburg twice and Copenhagen while England, Spain, Italy and Germany are among those given three home fixtures. \u201cUnfortunately you have teams who play all their group games in their own country, so I think it\u2019s not completely fair,\u201d said former Arsenal defender Vermaelen.<\/p>\n

\u201cTravelling doesn\u2019t have a good influence on your body. We had to come back from Russia which is a three-hour flight after a late game, so it\u2019s not helping us.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s something we have to accept and deal with. We won\u2019t moan as a team or as players. It\u2019s something that belongs to this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

As earlier stated, Belgium\u2019s last 16 match will be in Seville.<\/p>\n

Of greater concern for Roberto Martinez and his players is the state of the pitch at La Cartuja stadium after Spain complained the dry surface slowed down their passing. Martinez said on Tuesday: \u2018What we heard is that the pitch isn\u2019t up to the condition Spain expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope there is time to rectify it because in games of this quality you need a fantastic surface. \u201cThere have been a few concerns. It seems it has improved from the first game Spain played. It was a lot better in the second and is expected to be a lot better for the third.<\/p>\n

Euro Last 16 fixtures<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, June 26 in Amsterdam<\/b><\/p>\n

Wales 0-4 Denmark<\/p>\n

In London:<\/b><\/p>\n

Italy 2-1 Austria<\/p>\n

Sunday, June 27 in Budapest<\/b><\/p>\n

Netherlands v Czech Republic, 7pm<\/p>\n

In Seville, Spain<\/b><\/p>\n

: Belgium v Portugal, 10pm<\/p>\n

Monday, June 28 in Copenhagen<\/b><\/p>\n

Croatia v Spain, 7pm<\/p>\n

In Bucharest<\/b><\/p>\n

: France v Switzerland, 10pm<\/p>\n

Tuesday, June 29 in London<\/p>\n

England v Germany, 7pm<\/p>\n

In Glasgow, Scotland:<\/b><\/p>\n

Sweden v Ukraine, 10 pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Fernando Santos has admitted Portugal are already playing catch-up with Belgium today, with Cristiano Ronaldo and their last-16 opponents two days ahead in their recovery. Portugal occupied every position in the group during their 2-2 draw with France on a dramatic night, but eventually finished third and consequently must will take on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":13049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-13050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nLast 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020 - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fernando Santos has admitted Portugal are already playing catch-up with Belgium today, with Cristiano Ronaldo and their ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fernando Santos has admitted Portugal are already playing catch-up with Belgium today, with Cristiano Ronaldo and their ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-27T16:50:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/06\/img-60d894b2edede.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-27T16:50:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020\"},\"wordCount\":582,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/06\/img-60d894b2edede.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020\",\"name\":\"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020 - Uganda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/06\/img-60d894b2edede.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-27T16:50:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Fernando Santos has admitted Portugal are already playing catch-up with Belgium today, with Cristiano Ronaldo and their ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/06\/img-60d894b2edede.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/06\/img-60d894b2edede.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":480,\"caption\":\"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\",\"name\":\"Uganda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020 - Uganda","description":"Fernando Santos has admitted Portugal are already playing catch-up with Belgium today, with Cristiano Ronaldo and their ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020","og_description":"Fernando Santos has admitted Portugal are already playing catch-up with Belgium today, with Cristiano Ronaldo and their ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020","og_site_name":"Uganda","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2021-06-27T16:50:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/06\/img-60d894b2edede.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020","datePublished":"2021-06-27T16:50:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020"},"wordCount":582,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/06\/img-60d894b2edede.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Uganda","uganda"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020","name":"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020 - Uganda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/06\/img-60d894b2edede.jpg","datePublished":"2021-06-27T16:50:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Fernando Santos has admitted Portugal are already playing catch-up with Belgium today, with Cristiano Ronaldo and their ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/06\/img-60d894b2edede.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2021\/06\/img-60d894b2edede.jpg","width":720,"height":480,"caption":"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/last-16-belgium-portugal-clash-in-mother-of-all-battles-at-euro-2020#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Last 16: Belgium, Portugal clash in mother of all battles at Euro 2020"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/","name":"Uganda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}