Knowing that a draw between USA and Germany would eliminate them both, Portugal and Ghana have no choice but to try and win their final fixture and hope the other two sides in the group will play it fair and square.

Buoyed by the impressive display at the Euro 2012, when they narrowly missed out on a final appearance, the Seleccao hoped to reach the final stages of the 2014 World Cup as well, but things did not exactly go as planned.

From the very start of the preparations, coach Paulo Bento had to deal with a number of injuries to star players, and things got even more difficult after the 4-0 loss to Germany in their opening fixture.

The tournament was soon over for Fabio Coentrao, while suspended Pepe and few other players were forced to miss the second match against USA.

As a result, Portugal largely struggled against their less illustrious opponents and were very fortunate to keep their qualifying hopes alive as Varela scored in the dying moments of the match.

However, with star player Cristiano Ronaldo admitting this team do not have what it takes to compete against the best, there don’t seem to be a great deal of value in odds of 2.25 (5/4) offered on home win.

Helder Postiga, Andre Almeida, Rui Patricio and Hugo Almeida are all struggling through injury, but Pepe returns from a one-match ban.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Beto – Pereira, Pepe, Alves, Veloso – Moutinho, William, Meireles – Nani, Eder, Ronaldo.

Having been placed in the same group as European powerhouses Germany and Portugal, Ghana were not exactly expected to reach the knockout stages, but Kwesi Appiah’s side have so far done well to prove the doubters wrong.

The Black Stars played well in their opening match against USA, but eventually had to settle for a 2-1 defeat that many believed would end their qualifying hopes.

Ghana, nonetheless, then produced a stunning display against one of Europe’s top sides to complete outclass Germany and they were very unfortunate not to have won the game.

The Black Stars now need to defeat Portugal and hope that USA will lose in order to qualify, and they look a good bet to beat the Seleccao at 3.20 (11/5).

After scoring his fifth goal in ten World Cup appearances, Asamoah Gyan is available at 3.00 (2/1) to score against Portugal.

Sullet Muntari misses out through suspension, but Kevin-Prince Boateng and John Boye should be fit to play despite sitting out training on Sunday.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Dauda – Afful, Boye, Mensah, Asamoah – Essien, Rabiu – Atsu, Boateng, A. Ayew – Gyan.