3 individual battles to watch as Uruguay meets Portugal

Ahead of the tantalising last-16 meeting between Uruguay and Portugal, we look at three crucial matchups that will determine which side advances to the quarter-finals, and which one gets sent packing earlier than expected.

Diego Godin, Jose Gimenez vs. Cristiano Ronaldo

Here's a true heavyweight matchup.

An organized, cohesive backline has long been the bedrock of this Uruguay side, and the current iteration featuring the Atletico Madrid centre-back pair of Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez may be the best yet (with all due respect to Diego Lugano).

Gimenez, 23, is expected to return from a thigh problem to start alongside his club teammate, and the two imposing defenders will face easily their toughest test of the tournament so far - and one they've become very familiar with over the years in La Liga.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who has already found the net four times in Russia, presents arguably the sternest test in the world for a central defender; his ability to find dead spots in coverage inside the box, and then either leap like a salmon above everyone else or burst to life to meet the ball first on the ground, makes him so multidimensional that he's almost unstoppable.

If anybody has a chance to lock him up, however, it's this Uruguayan duo.

Godin and Gimenez - the former in particular - combine brute physicality with an ability to read both the game and the movement of opposing strikers; though their sheer strength and aerial ability get much of the attention, neither would be so revered if they weren't also excellent at anticipating the play and taking up the correct defensive position to combat it.

Ronaldo has become more of a pure penalty-box presence as he ages, which puts him on a collision course with his Madrid-based peers.

Rodrigo Bentancur vs. William Carvalho

If Oscar Tabarez opts for the two-man midfield that he deployed in La Celeste's opening two matches, this contest will be more a battle between two players trying to dictate tempo from their deep-lying positions than a true head-to-head contest that sees them flying into tackles against each other.

If, however, Tabarez rolls out the three-man midfield system he started against Russia, blossoming star Rodrigo Bentancur will have the freedom to get further forward in support of Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez - like he did against the host nation - and that would match the slender 21-year-old up against Portugal's midfield anchor, William Carvalho.

Though his defensive work gets most of the attention, the in-demand holding midfielder is crucial to Portugal's ability to get the ball forward while in possession.

He's making more passes per game (62.7) than any other Portuguese player at the tournament, which highlights how integral he is to the Selecao's build-up play. Indeed, one of the reasons Iran had success against Portugal in the Group B finale was the use of Sardar Azmoun as a shadow on Carvalho - when out of possession, the striker dropped back and simply stuck to the mustachioed 26-year-old, forcing Portugal to resort to more direct, less accurate long passes.

Will Uruguay implement a similar tactic?

Martin Caceres vs. Raphael Guerreiro

With Martin Caceres expected to start at right-back thanks to the emergence of Diego Laxalt on the opposite flank, the veteran Uruguayan will be tasked with shutting down whomever Fernando Santos decides to start on the Portuguese left wing, while also getting forward to offer some width to a side that's looked too narrow in attack at times.

Ditto for Raphael Guerreiro down that same side for Portugal; the 24-year-old has struggled so far in Russia, with the likes of Nordin Amrabat and Alireza Jahanbakhsh giving him trouble in his own end of the pitch.

They may not be the marquee men for their respective teams, but whichever of the two full-backs can control the flank in Saturday's contest will give his side a crucial advantage in what figures to be a very tight match.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)