Roberto Martinez has held showdown talks with his Portugal squad in a bid to revive their World Cup dream. The Portugal boss and his players were left stunned after being held to a humiliating draw by African minnows DR Congo in Houston. Congo came from behind to secure a famous point, piling the pressure on Martinez.
The Portugal squad flew back to their Florida base to begin preparations for their next Group K game against Uzbekistan next week. Martinez called his squad together for a meeting to discuss what went wrong at the Houston Stadium. It is understood the players watched a video nasty of the 1-1 stalemate. Martinez asked some of his senior stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, what needs to change moving forward. The former Everton and Belgium boss has come under fire for refusing to substitute Ronaldo, who failed to impact the game.
Martinez knows that failing to beat Uzbekistan would leave Portugal struggling to reach the knockout stages. The pressure is mounting on the manager after a disappointing start to the tournament.
Neymar to Miss Out Again
Neymar is set to miss Brazil's World Cup clash with Haiti. The Selecao need to win after drawing their opener with Morocco in New Jersey. Neymar picked up a calf injury playing for Santos ahead of the tournament and sat out the first game. While he is back in training, Brazil are taking no risks. Endrick or Matheus Cunha could come in and start instead of Brentford's Igor Thiago, who was scrutinised for his display against Morocco.
Full Strength Scots
Steve Clarke had a full complement of players for Scotland's final training session before their World Cup clash with Morocco on Friday. Centre-back Scott McKenna missed the 1-0 Group C win over Haiti on Saturday with a calf injury. The 29-year-old Dinamo Zagreb defender returned to the group at their Charlotte base on Tuesday morning but sat out the last workout in North Carolina before the Scots flew to Boston on Wednesday afternoon.
Scotland are top of Group C with three points, after Morocco and Brazil drew 1-1 in their group opener in New Jersey. After taking on Morocco, the Scots – looking to reach the knockout stages for the first time – face the Brazilians in Miami on June 24.
