Match Focus: How the USA Can Stop Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal

A look of genuine disbelief spread across the face of defender John Brooks as he wheeled away in celebration on Monday night. This was his competitive debut for the USA and he had just scored a World Cup winner in their 2-1 victory over Ghana, four minutes from the end. Disbelief was an understandable reaction.

But such incredulity also stemmed from up until Graham Zusi’s corner landed on the head of Brooks - Jurgen Klinsmann’s side had been second best for much of the game. If any team was going to score a winner, it was Ghana, but luck shone on the North Americans.

Next up is Portugal, and Cristiano Ronaldo. He is the man USA fans have feared ever since the group draw was made last year. A friendly win over Germany showed that the US can cope with the threat posed by Joachim Löw’s side, but Ronaldo is a completely different proposition.

The Real Madrid star has been struggling with tendonitis in his right knee and is a doubt for the game against the USA, but Klinsmann has said he will prepare for the match on the assumption that he will play.

So how do you stop Ronaldo? Germany gave us a good idea, stifling the supply to the winger-turned-forward in the centre of midfield. Löw’s team claimed a 57% share of possession, and drew Ronaldo deeper and deeper as he looked for the ball.

That allowed Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira and Toni Kroos to swarm the Portuguese number seven whenever he did pick up the ball. His struggles at breaking through Germany’s midfield are illustrated by the fact he failed to complete a single dribble in the game on Monday. He did have 7 shots on goal (his average in La Liga last season was 7.2 per game) but only two of them hit the target.

Klinsmann played a midfield diamond against Ghana, but at times there was too much space between the players that formed the system. If the USA are to stop Ronaldo, they must crowd him out like Germany did. The US midfield will have to play much more effectively as a unit to halt the 2013 Ballon d'Or winner.

Michael Bradley is widely regarded as not just the USA’s best player, but also their most important. When the midfielder plays well, his national team plays well, and even when the rest of his teammates are not performing to the standards expected of them, he has the influence to drag his team through games.

However, he could not have timed his poorest performance in a USA shirt worse. His midfield partners Kyle Beckerman and Jermaine Jones, who picked up his slack, showed him up.

Bradley struggled to make the ball stick, which had a knock-on effect across the entire team. Jozy Altidore, who picked up a hamstring injury, was given little to work with, while Clint Dempsey, the USA’s most productive attacking player, only had 2 shots at goal.

Fabian Johnson, the flying full-back who relies so much on Bradley spreading the play, only attempted 1 cross into the box, as did DaMarcus Beasley on the opposite flank.

Beckerman and Jones were key to the USA’s ploy to break up attacking moves before they could reach the edge of their box, with the Real Salt Lake and Besiktas men, respectively, making 3 and 4 tackles over the 90 minutes. To put that into perspective, their most prolific tackler against Ghana - Alejandro Bedoya - made 5 tackles.

And this is where one of the biggest dips in Bradley’s performance could be found. For Toronto FC he has averaged 3.3 tackles per game, making him the club’s most prolific tackler, but against Ghana he only made 1. He also made just 1 interception, down from his season average of 2.8 per game in MLS.

Klinsmann played Bradley at the top of a midfield diamond, with Jones on the left side, Beckerman the deepest just in front of the back four, and Bedoya to the right.

It’s a position designed to make the most of Bradley’s creative edge, but against Ghana he failed to execute a single key pass. Clint Dempsey, Graham Zusi and Alejandro Bedoya, as well as Jones, all managed to split the Ghanaian defence with 1 key pass each, but Bradley, the man put on the field to do exactly that, failed to create a goalscoring chance.

The USA claimed just 38% of possession against Ghana, who put them on the back foot for much of the game. In truth, Klinsmann’s side were fortunate to come away with three points, given how rarely they made it into the final third, particularly in the second half.

Much of that was down to Bradley’s struggle to keep hold of the ball in the opposition half. He attempted more passes (43) then every USA player, but this was a drop in his season average (49.2) in MLS, and he can even top out at around 60 or 70 when needed. Against Ghana, he was required to, but did not get anywhere near that tally.

Perhaps the biggest positive from the USA’s performance against Ghana, besides the result of course, was the performance of centre-back pairing Matt Besler and Geoff Cameron.

Besler was forced off at half time with a minor hamstring strain, but in 45 minutes he made 8  clearances and blocked 1 shot. His replacement Brooks made 7, keeping up Besler’s precedent, while Cameron made an astonishing 15 clearance, and blocked 2 Ghana shots on goal. Both players - Besler is expected to overcome injury - will need to display a similar kind of vigilance against Portugal.

Having knocked the USA out of the last two World Cups, the win over Ghana was sweet revenge for Klinsmann’s men, but now they face a significant step-up in opposition. Whether Ronaldo plays or not, Portugal are a formidable side, and whether USA can cope with the challenge that lies ahead of them depends on the performance of the midfield.

How big a role do you think the midfield will play when USA take on Portugal? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below