Spain, Portugal eye World Cup last 16
LOS ANGELES: European champions Spain and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal aim to book their places in the last 16 of the World Cup on Thursday as Algeria look to salvage some pride for African football. Spain take on Austria in Los Angeles, where a win will keep them on course for a potential meeting with Portugal in the next round. Portugal play Croatia in Toronto in a game that could mark the final career World Cup match for either Ronaldo or his former Real Madrid team-mate and veteran Croatian midfielder Luka Modric. The late match sees Algeria aim to revive African fortunes after a rocky start to the knockout rounds for teams from the continent. Ivory Coast, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo have all fallen at the first knock-out hurdle in the last 32 after advancing from the group stage. Algeria, who squeezed into the last 32 with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Austria on Saturday, face Switzerland in Vancouver. After arriving at the World Cup as one of the favorites, Spain have made a relatively low-key start to the tournament. A shock 0-0 draw with Cape Verde was followed by a 4-0 rout of Saudi Arabia before an attritional victory over Uruguay. But Spain coach Luis de la Fuente maintains his team are on an upward curve and are exactly where they want to be as they reach the business end of the tournament. “This squad is used to breaking records and overcoming rough patches; we are determined to keep moving forward,” De la Fuente said on Wednesday. “From the time we arrived here up to the Uruguay match, we’ve seen the team begin to regain the automatic movements and patterns they had in the past. Now we have to deliver; there is no margin for error.”