It might have been Portugal vs. Sweden for a place at the World Cup in Brazil next summer, but in reality this was all about two men in particular and it is Cristiano Ronaldo that has – so far – got the better of Zlatan Ibrahimovic by netting a late winner to give the Portuguese a slender 1-0 lead going into next week’s return leg in Stockholm.
A tie that looked all-too close to call as soon as the draw was made is now advantage Portugal and even if it is by the slightest of margins, bwin go 23/100 that the Iberians qualify for Brazil, making Sweden a 57/20 chance.
But with Sweden having won eight of their last ten competitive fixtures ta home the tie is far from over, and new customers that register with bwin today can use their free £20 bet and win £77 in returns in Ibrahimovic can inspire a famous comeback.
When you have arguably two of the best three footballers in the world going head to head in a two-legged play-off – certainly the two with the biggest egos in world football – then it was inevitable pre-match attention would fall on Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic with one player set to miss out on the ultimate football showpiece next year.
But if it was a shock that you could fit both of their egos onto the pitch, it was an even bigger shock that, Ronaldo’s goal apart, neither player had much effect on a game that never really sparked into life until the former Manchester United man struck the game’s only goal eight minutes from time.
Ibra had one of those evenings that he can be occasionally prone to – he strutted round doing very little – while Ronaldo was also subdued by his exceptionally high standards, though he could have made it two when he hit the bar just minutes after scoring.
Both sides are priced up at 8/5 to win the second leg on Tuesday, with the draw quoted at 23/10.
Looking further ahead, Portugal are 33/1 to win the World Cup, a price that will be significantly shorter should they finish the job in Stockholm, so if you are confident of their progression and fancy Ronaldo and co to go well next summer, get on before the return match.
Sweden are now out to 150/1 for World Cup glory.
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