The popular football commentator believes that Timo Werner could well make the vital difference in a game, where finishing with a positive result is of great importance.
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Portugal take on Germany in an exciting Group F encounter of the ongoing Euro 2020 on Saturday at the Football Arena Munich in Munich. The former emerged victorious by a margin of 3-0 in their opening match against Hungary, with Cristiano Ronaldo making his presence felt. However, Germany were defeated by France in their league opener with the team thoroughly outclassed on the day. Coach Joachim Loew and his players have been handed a tough opponent in Portugal, with the latter high on confidence following the triumph. There is a dearth of game-changers in the German squad capable of turning the tide of an encounter single-handedly.
However, popular football commentator and critic Suman Chakraborty believes that Timo Werner could well make the vital difference in a game, where finishing with a positive result is of great importance.
“Werner is fantastic at building up the gameplay effectively, as evident in his performances for Chelsea in the recently concluded season. The attacker can be extremely lethal if deployed with Kai Havertz, enabling the latter to go on and make his presence felt. Werner came on as a substitute in the defeat against France, which did not work out well. The former RB Leipzig footballer’s presence will also enable Thomas Mueller to deliver to the best of his potential, with his failure to deliver the goods in the opener certainly impacted by the absence of a player like Werner,” he says in an exclusive interaction with Sportslumo.
The popular football commentator further backed Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry to contribute with a game-changing performance, if brought on as substitutes.
“If we look at the current Germany squad, they are missing a reasonable number of players who can be expected to change the game single-handedly if brought on as substitutes. Sane and Gnabry are two such footballers, who can wreak havoc if used in an effective manner. The two Bayern Munich players can be absolutely destructive as visible in their gameplay while representing the Bundesliga club. Loew needs to deploy his personnel efficiently to get the job done,” he adds.
Chakraborty believes that it will be a wise move from the Portugal team management if they sideline Pepe, with Ruben Dias playing alongside Jose Fonte.
“Pepe did not seem very confident against Hungary. He was not comfortable when required to negotiate any move by the opposition attackers. It will be a wise decision to rest him with Jose Fonte featuring alongside Ruben Dias. Dias has been fantastic in recent times for Manchester City as well as Portugal. He will certainly carve a fine partnership with Fonte, who was a vital member of the Portugal team that won the previous edition of the Euros,” states the popular football commentator.
Dias stated that the players were well aware of the need to stay focused and record a win.
“Our expectations are that we will face a high-level team, one of the best at EURO, a category that also includes us. We are aware that, despite having started EURO very well, we need to keep our feet on the ground, take away that we did well, but also understand that we will have to be better to win this game,” he said as quoted by UEFA’s official website.
It will be interesting to note the team which emerges victorious in this exciting clash.
