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Portugal, which will face us, has already confirmed their berth to the round of 16, but they are foretelling an all-out battle to keep first place in the group.



However, it is a situation where some key players have to be replaced due to a series of injuries, and reporter Lee Jeong-chan reports.



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While winning two consecutive victories with five goals against Ghana and Uruguay, Portugal had holes in their defence.



Starting with defensive midfielder Otabiu, key central defender Pereira was injured one after another, and side defender Mendes, who was forced to play during rehabilitation, was also replaced in tears due to a muscle injury in the match against Uruguay.



With the inevitable replacement of the defensive line, it is also unclear whether 'captain' Ronaldo will play.



Ronaldo did not attend training for the Korean War for two days in a row.



Team officials say Ronaldo is doing individual recovery exercises indoors.



A Portuguese journalist predicted that the 37-year-old Ronaldo would not overdo it in the Korean match to arrange his stamina.



[Catarina Cardoso/CNN Portugal Reporter: It's surprising that Ronaldo doesn't appear in training.

Coach Santos said the match against Korea would be a good opportunity to test a new player.]



As a replacement for Ronaldo, Andre Silva, who has a career in second place in the Bundesliga, is considered as an alternative.



[Andre Silva/Portugal soccer team striker: We are all focused on winning, winning, winning with one mind.

The goal is to finish first in the group.

I will do my best.]



When the rotation is activated, the organizational power will inevitably be shaken.



Portugal showed loopholes when switching from offense to defense. In the match against Ghana, they allowed space behind the side and conceded two goals, and in the match against Uruguay, they missed a striker who penetrated the defenders and faced a crisis.



If our attacking team digs a hole in the defense well, we can catch Portugal, which is ranked 9th in the FIFA rankings.



(Video coverage: Park Seung-won · Kim Yong-woo, video editing: So Ji-hye, CG: Ban So-hee)