SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A street demonstration in Brazil's biggest city ended in violence on Thursday as anti-government protesters vandalized cars and banks and police responded with tear gas.

The protest turned violent just as a World Cup game between England and Uruguay was ending roughly 15 miles (25 km) away on the other side of Sao Paulo. There were no initial reports of injured protesters, a police spokeswoman said, or of foreign soccer fans getting caught up in the violence.

The march started off peacefully as roughly 1,300 people commemorated the one-year anniversary of successful efforts to prevent a transit fare hike. Later, some protesters began breaking storefront windows and setting fires.

Television images showed groups of masked men spray painting graffiti on cars, firing off rockets and smashing public property as police responded with tear gas.

While a number of anti-government protests have broken out in Brazil since the World Cup began, most have been on a much smaller scale. Recent protests, including a demonstration on Wednesday in Sao Paulo over low-income housing, have been non-violent.

A police spokeswoman said she was unable to provide detailed information on the extent of the damage or efforts to control the violence.

A wave of protests last June drew hundreds of thousands of Brazilians into the street over a range of grievances, including poor public services, corruption, and excessive spending on mega-events such as the World Cup.

While a small minority of the protesters on Thursday chanted anti-World Cup slogans, most focused on highlighting the group's success in preventing a roughly 10 cent increase in transport fares last year.

"This protest today isn't against the Cup but more of a commemoration of what happened a year ago," said Ana, a protester who declined to give her last name. "We took to the streets today to show that we were victorious a year ago but also to reinforce that our goal is free transportation for all."

The protest shut down one of the city's main thoroughfares, though the impact of traffic was limited due to a national holiday on Thursday. 

(Reported by Asher Levine; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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The 32 countries competing in the World Cup qualified from a selection process involving 204 national teams, with the exception of hosting nation Brazil – they had a secured spot. “The countries’ combined population covers a sizeable proportion of the global population – approximately 1.9 billion people out of a world population of around 7.3 billion people,” said Amlan Roy, Head of Global Demographics and Pension Research at Credit Suisse. “From an economic point of view, these 32 countries account for a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $47 trillion.” Credit Suisse’s recent study “World Cup 2014 Countries: Spotlighting Demographics,” analyzes each of the participating countries’ core demographic variables, which play a fundamental role in their economic and financial development.

Rich and Poor, Young and Old – And Everything In Between

While the fact that each World Cup team gets 11 players a side gives the competing countries an equal chance on the football field, there are stark variations in the nations’ living standards, workers, consumers, education, and health. The countries range from rich to poor, young to old, developed to developing, and hail from seven regions across the globe – Africa, Europe, Middle East, North America, Central America & Caribbean, Oceania and South America. “Demographics has far-reaching and multifaceted implications for growth, fiscal sustainability, asset prices, pensions, urbanization, inequality and youth unemployment,” Roy explained. “People and countries are changing demographically, leading to historically unprecedented challenges to (economic) policies and theories, thus collectively changing societies as a whole.”

Life Expectancy

There is a 33-year divergence in life expectancies at birth between competing nations Japan, the country with the highest longevity, and Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), which has the lowest. The life expectancy in Japan currently stands at 83.5 years, followed by 82.5 years in Switzerland and 82.3 years in Italy, compared to 50.5 years in Côte d’Ivoire, 52.3 years in Nigeria and 54.9 years in Cameroon.

Median Age

There is also a large spread in the median age of the 32 countries. The three African countries with the lowest life expectancy – Nigeria, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire – are also the youngest nations in the tournament, with median ages of 17.7, 18.5, and 19.1 years respectively, compared to Japan and Italy, which have median ages of 46.5 and 45 years. “This gap of 26 to 29 years in median age is monumental,” Roy said. 

Fertility Rates

The number of children per woman of childbearing age is the highest in Nigeria, with an average of 6 children per woman, followed by 4.9 children per woman in Côte d’Ivoire and 4.8 children per woman in Cameroon. Bosnia & Herzegovina, Portugal and South Korea have the lowest fertility rates at 1.3 children per woman. This amounts to a fertility rate difference of 4.7 children per woman between the most fertile country and the least.

Population Growth

 The population growth differential is 3.2 percent per annum among the 32 countries. Once again, three African countries post the fastest annual population growth rate, with Nigeria at 2.8 percent, followed by Cameroon at 2.5 percent and Côte d’Ivoire at 2.3 percent. At the opposite end of the scale, population growth actually declines each year in five developed countries: Croatia (-0.4 percent), Russia (-0.2 percent), Bosnia & Herzegovina, Germany and Japan (-0.1 percent).

Net Migration

Net migration rates – defined as the number of net migrants per 1,000 residents – show that Switzerland has the highest influx of immigrants at nearly 8 per 1,000 residents, followed by Australia with nearly 7 per 1,000 residents and the U.S. at around 3.5 per 1,000 residents. In contrast, Mexico, Uruguay and Honduras post the largest outflow of their residents, at nearly 2 per 1,000 residents. This amounts to net migration rate differences of nearly 10 per 1,000 residents. “The increasingly globalized world and movement of people across boundaries has led to a changed mix of players representing countries in sports over the last few decades,” Roy explained. “The ethnic mix and the natives versus immigrants that comprise national teams – not just in football, but in all sports – has radically changed. Talented sports people have become more global in terms of both their profile and their market value.” One third of the competing countries at the World Cup have 20 or more of their national squad players playing in foreign leagues. Each national squad is composed of 23 players and a coach.

It remains to be seen how the competition will play out on the football pitch. But in the real world, demographics matter enormously to a country’s success. “All of these demographic facts are really about consumers and workers, and are thus of crucial importance to the economic, financial and market development of these countries,” Roy said.

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In yet another injury scare for the Portuguese national team, starting central defender Bruno Alves missed training on Friday with a thigh issue.

Portugal is decimated by injuries and suspensions going into the pivotal Group G game against the United States on Sunday.

Three players who started in the 4-0 loss to Germany are definitely out, and three others are carrying injuries. The full list:

• Pepe will miss the game due to suspension. He got a red card after losing his mind and head-butting Germany's Thomas Muller in Portugal's 4-0 loss.
• Fabio Coentrao is out of the World Cup with a groin injury he picked up in the second half against Germany.
• Hugo Almeida will miss the U.S. game after going down with a thigh injury against Germany.
• Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly left training early this week to get treatment on the patellar tendinitis in his knee. While he's expected to play, news broke that his personal doctor advised him against playing in the World Cup. He won't be 100%.
• Rui Patricio, the Portuguese goalie, suffered a thigh injury against Germany. He could miss the U.S. game.
• Bruno Alvesmissed training Friday. There's no official word on his status.

That's three of four first-choice defenders (including both central defenders), the goalie, the center forward, and the best player all in question for Sunday's game.

It's horrible timing for this team, and a shame for Ronaldo — who probably won't be the player he is today when he's 33 years old at the 2018 World Cup.

Portugal needs a win to keep its World Cup hopes alive.

Here's a photo of the team before the Germany game, with injured players X'd out and questionable players with question marks. That's more than half the starting 11:

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Brazil is still the overwhelming favorite to win the World Cup but the gap between them and the field is narrowing according to the latest model by Nate Silver.

In addition, the elimination of Spain and the near-elimination of England has opened the door for more countries and there are now seven countries with at least a 5% chance of winning the World Cup.

Here are the chances of winning the World Cup after the first week:

• Brazil, 36%
• Argentina, 15%
• Germany, 15%
• Chile, 7%
• Netherlands, 6%
• Colombia, 5%
• France, 5%

No other country has more than a 2% chance of winning the tournament and 21 of the 32 teams have either been eliminated or have less than 1% chance of winning. This includes the United States (<1%).

Prior to the start of the tournament, Silver's model gave Brazil a 45% chance of winning and only three other countries had more than a 4% chance of winning, including Spain at 8%, who has already been eliminated.

Netherlands has had the biggest jump in their chances to win, going from 1% prior to the tournament to 6% now. Germany has improved from 11% to 15%.

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For the unfamiliar, Cristiano Ronaldo is the biggest threat to the U.S. in Sunday's massive World Cup Group G game against Portugal.

The Real Madrid forward is the best player in the world right now. 

He scored about once every 72 minutes for Real this year. He broke the record for goals scored in a single Champions League campaign with 16. He has 251 goals in all competitions since his $100 million transfer to Madrid in 2009 — a pace that should see him set the club's goalscoring record by 2016.

In an exceptional era of Spanish soccer — where the national team won three straight major competitions, Barcelona won two Champions League titles, and two transcendent players have shattered goal-scoring records for the country's two biggest clubs — Ronaldo has, for now, emerged as the best player in Spain, and thus the world.

Ronaldo's brilliance comes from his ability to do everything an attacking player can possibly do on a soccer field.

There are no holes in his game. The same way LeBron James can shoot, dribble, post up, drive, and pass, Ronaldo can finish with both feet, bury free kicks, beat defenders one on one, win headers, and thread perfect passes.

He's also a freakish athlete.

He's one of the fastest players in the world, so fast that the Daily Mail seriously compared one of his runs to Usain Bolt's 100-yard dash. He's also six-one with incredible leaping ability, so much that Real Madrid set up a "Jump As High As Ronaldo" display after he scored a goal on a nine-foot-four-inch leaping header.

After he left Manchester United in 2009, Sir Alex Ferguson described what the loss would mean:

"Cristiano is a massive loss. I have nothing but praise for the boy. He is easily the best player in the world. He is better than Kaka and better than Messi. He is streets ahead of them all.

"His contribution as a goal threat is unbelievable. His stats are incredible. Strikes at goal, attempts on goal, raids into the penalty box, headers. It is all there. Absolutely astounding."

He can score goals in every way it's possible to score goals.

If you could combine all the different types of attacking players — goal poachers, speedy wingers, target men, free-kick specialists, and so forth — you'd get Ronaldo.

1. On a free kick:

2. With ridiculous speed:

3. In front of goal:

4. With his head:

There are very few athletes who can do everything. Even Lionel Messi, who might be one of the best players ever, isn't a threat on headers.

Ronaldo is one of those rare players, which is what makes him so spectacular and terrifying.

SEE ALSO: Soccer Experts Explain How The U.S. Can Stop Cristiano Ronaldo

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The 2014 Brazil-based World Cup will drive $1.5 billion in global ad spend, according to a report by ZenithOptimedia, compiled by BI Intelligence in the chart below.

• Not surprisingly, Latin America will be the biggest beneficiary of World Cup ad spend, pulling in a total of $500 million across all advertising channels.
• North America and Western Europe will be the second-largest markets, with each region drawing $300 million in total ad spend.
• Television will draw the largest share of these ad dollars, according to ZenithOptimedia. TV is still the dominant platform for advertisers, particularly for live sporting events. But BI Intelligence forecasts that TV ad dollars will steadily shift to digital over the next few years.
• Digital ad spend — and mobile and social in particular — will also see a big boost from the World Cup. Digital platforms like mobile and social media are hugely popular venues for consuming sports content.

BI Intelligence is a subscription tech research service. Sign up to receive all our coverage of the digital media industry, including downloadable charts, analysis, and reporting.

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Lionel Messi wears no. 10.

Neymar wears no. 10.

Wayne Rooney wears no. 10.

Recent winners of the Ballon d'Or, given to the best player in the world, include Michael Owen, Kaká, and Ronaldinho, all of whom wore no. 10.

Part of the reasoning for the popularity of the no. 10 goes back to Diego Maradona and Pelé, two of the greatest players that ever lived. They both wore no. 10, so it would be a natural extension for many of today's best players to choose that number.

But there is actually more to it than that and it starts with why both Maradona and Pelé wore the greatest of football numbers.

When players were first assigned numbers, the starting 11 were given numbers 1-11 with the goalkeeper wearing no. 1, the defenders wearing the next lowest numbers, and the forwards wearing the biggest numbers.

This is much the same reason that single digits are so popular in baseball. When numbers were first assigned it was based on their position in the batting order. Thus Babe Ruth wore no. 3 and Lou Gehrig wore no. 4, for example.

The most common formation used by soccer teams when numbering started was 2-3-5, that is two defenders, three midfielders, and five forwards. The players were assigned numbers based on these positions.

Over time, teams moved away from the 2-3-5 and the 4-4-2 became more popular. Teams tried to retain the original numbering as much as possible.

The nos. 4 and 5 became the center backs, with the nos. 2 and 3 moving wide. In addition, the no. 7 and 11, wingers in the original formation, remained wingers in the new formation, only now they are in the midfield.

The switch looked like this:

Now positions were numbered like this, with nos. 9 and 10 being assigned to the two forwards.

Traditionally, one of these players would be better all-around player, a scorer and a playmaker, and that player was most often assigned no. 10.

Thus Pelé and Maradona wore no. 10 and many of the best all-around players have followed..

The other player has traditionally been more of a straight scorer, a striker.

Because of this, the no. 9 is also a popular number among the great players, including Luis Suarez for Uruguay and Robin van Persie of Netherlands.

Of course, today, teams no longer strictly adhere to the numbering system. It is done more out of tradition or respect to the greats with players often choosing numbers greater than 11. David Beckham wore no. 23 with the Los Angeles Galaxy, for example.

Curiously, Landon Donovan wore no. 10 for the United States. That number has now been assigned to Mix Diskerud, a midfielder.

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CONCACAF is dominating the 2014 World Cup.

Or, perhaps less hyperbolically, CONCACAF — the FIFA region that encompasses North America, Central America, and the Caribbean — is outperforming its traditionally low expectations at the 2014 World Cup.

The region has long been more or less of a joke, even among American soccer fans. The United States and Mexico — relative afterthoughts compared to the top teams in Europe — are the superpowers. World Cup qualifying involves trips to places like Barbados and Belize, where the field are basically weed patches and only a handful of fans show up.

But in Brazil, CONCACAF has come to play, and it's not a fluke.

The four teams — United States, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Honduras — are a combined 4-1-1 through Friday afternoon. Costa Rica is already qualified for the knockout stages with a 1-0 win over Italy, and they'll likely finished above Italy, England, and Uruguay in their group.

Here's how CONCACAF stacks up with the rest of the world: 

CONCACAF, which is considered multiple tiers below both Europe and South America in terms of overall quality, is playing as well as any other region in the tournament.

Those four wins came against Uruguay, Italy, Ghana, and Cameroon. The tie came against Brazil. The U.S., Mexico, and Costa Rica (sorry, Honduras) have been well-organized, hardworking, and unintimidated against elite competition.

It would have surprised absolutely no one if all four CONCACAF teams were eliminated in the group stage. Instead, Costa Rica is the favorite to win their group, and both Mexico and the U.S. are favored to make the last 16.

Even best goal of the tournament came from Australia's Tim Cahill, who plays professionally in MLS. CONCACAF cannot be stopped:

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Costa Rica has qualified for the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time since 1990 after beating Italy 1-0. This was Costa Rica's second straight upset after beating Uruguay 3-1 in their opening match.

After today's match, cameras captured this incredible shot of the players celebrating on the field. Pure joy. Pure emotion.

SEE ALSO: The 53 Most Mesmerizing Photos From The World Cup So Far

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Thanks to their huge opening-match win against Ghana, the United States now has a 69.2% chance of advancing out of the group stage and into the round-of-16 knockout stage according to Nate Silver's World Cup model.

The United States' next match on Sunday against Portugal is a toss-up according to the model with the U.S. being given a 34% chance to win and a 37% chance to lose. The good news is that means the U.S. has a 63% chance of earning at least one point.

Assuming Germany beats Ghana, a tie against Portugal nearly guarantees the U.S. will advance. At that point, the best Portugal could do is tie the U.S. on points and the U.S. holds a big advantage in the tie-breaker, goal differential.

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Nope.

Credit Suisse recently examined the demographics and economic conditions of every country with a team in the World Cup.

What they found was a huge amount of diversity. Here are a few bullets from their report:

• GDP per capita at PPP: USA (53,101 current international dollars), Cote d’Ivoire (1,818 current international dollars)
• Population growth: Nigeria (2.8% p.a.), Croatia (-0.4% p.a.)
• Life Expectancy at Birth: Japan (83.5 years), Cote d’Ivoire (50.5 years)
• Fertility rates: Nigeria (6 children per woman), Bosnia & Herzegovina, Portugal, Republic of Korea (1.3 children per woman)
• Net migration rates: Switzerland (7.97 per 1000 people), Mexico (-1.98 per 1000 people).

Soccer is one of those sports that requires very little equipment. So, the wealth of a nation has little impact on the quality of its players.

Here's a look at GDP per capita of every country good enough to send a team to the World Cup. That's lots of variation.

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A sinkhole opened up in Natal, Brazil, just four miles away from a World Cup stadium. Favela residents have been evacuated and no deaths or injuries have been reported.

The sinkhole first appeared earlier in the week due to heavy rains, reports the BBC. Homes have been destroyed, with additional property damage expected as the sinkhole continues to grow. The sinkhole opened in a favela in Natal, located four miles from the Arena das Dunas stadium.

The World Cup stadium has been host to three games: Mexico v. Cameroon on June 13; United States v. Ghana on June 16; Japan v. Greece on June 19, and will host Italy v. Uruguay on Tuesday.

An aide to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff supervising relief efforts in Natal arrived on Friday, reports Associated Press. The sinkhole is near a busy road and nearly 150 families have been evacuated, notes AP. Relief efforts will be provided to the evacuated residents as officials evaluate a strategy for the sinkhole, stabilizing the soil and the surrounding area while repairing the drainage system, notes AP.

Additional homes could be razed if the sinkhole continues to grow. The Geological Survey of Brazil is creating a report on the sinkhole, reports Tribuna do Norte. The report will estimate the overall cost as well as whether the destroyed homes can be rebuilt in the same location.

A video of the sinkhole, courtesy of Associated Press, can be viewed below. 

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After 90 minutes it looked like Iran was going to pull of a huge upset with a scoreless tie that would have kept their World Cup hopes alive. But in the first minute of stoppage time, Lionel Messi dashed those dreams with a gorgeous goal from distance.

Iran still has a shot to advance to the knockout stage. But now they need a huge upset win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their final match and even that might not be enough. If they had tied Argentina, Iran could have potentially moved on with just a tie in their final match.

Iran was actually the better side in the second half with several good scoring opportunities. But Messi final found some space and curled the ball into the back of the net with his always dangerous left foot.

Messi's shot came from 5 yards outside of the box.

Iran had two players on Messi and another seven players in the box desperately trying to keep the game scoreless.

Much like Messi's goal in Argentina's first match, he never takes his eyes off the ball. He just knows where he is on the pitch and where the goal is.

The ball was just out of reach of the Iranian keeper.

And the celebration was on for the people of Argentina.

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The question of nationality at the World Cup took another bizarre turn as Germany faced Ghana in the World Cup. During the match, brothers Jerome Boateng of Germany and Kevin-Prince Boateng of Ghana played for opposing sides and even battled each other at times.

This led to this amazing photo of two brothers battling for opposing countries at the World Cup.

This is actually the second time the two brothers have faced each other in the World Cup, having also done so in 2010.

Despite growing up in Germany and playing for Germany at the youth level, Kevin-Prince chose to play for Ghana during the 2010 World Cup when he was passed over by the German national team. The Boateng's father is Ghanaian.

The move was allowed because FIFA had recently removed the age limit for switching nationalities if the player had represented one country at the youth level. Kevin-Prince was 23 at the time.

It is no secret that FIFA's nationality rules combined with the flexibility in citizenship rules for star soccer players around the world creates some interesting situations in deciding who can represent which countries at the World Cup.

Diego Costa is a Brazilian who now represents Spain in the World Cup. Likewise, five of the 23 players on the U.S. national team are German, with four being born to fathers who were American servicemen stationed in Germany.

But all of that is less strange than seeing two brothers play for opposing countries.

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Germany and Ghana played to an exciting 2-2 draw in Group G. The result also happened to be the best possible outcome for the U.S. national team.

With the draw, the United States can now clinch a spot in the knockout stage with a win over Portugal on Sunday.

This would have also been true had Germany defeated Ghana. However, the tie was even better.

Now, if the U.S. National team can beat Portugal on Sunday, they will be in a position where they can win their group with just a tie against Germany in their final match of the group stage. In addition, under this scenario, Germany would only need a tie to qualify for the round of 16.

Here is what the standings would look like if the U.S. beats Portugal by a hypothetical score of 2-1.

Winning the group would be huge as the runner-up from Group G will face the winner from Group H. That will almost certainly be Belgium, the ninth-best team in the world according to ESPN's Soccer Power Index (SPI).

However, if the U.S. can win Group G, they would likely face either Russia (#23 in the SPI) or South Korea (#35 in the SPI) in the round of 16. That is a much more favorable match-up and a better shot at reaching the quarterfinals.

Of course, the U.S. still needs to beat Portugal on Sunday. Nate Silver's model calls the game a toss-up, with the U.S. being given a 35% chance of winning and a 36% chance of losing.

If the goal is just be make it to the knockout stage and be one of the final 16, a German win would have been slightly better. But if the goal is to actually make some noise on the world stage, this draw was a big step in that direction.

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In not an entirely unexpected turn of events, Cristiano Ronaldo is set to start tomorrow against the United States. All week, there have been varying reports on the health of Ronaldo's injured left knee.

He pulled out of training earlier in the week to rest it, and he's reportedly been ignoring the advice of doctors, who have advised against him playing. 

Teammate Raul Meireles added, "He trains every day with all of us. Cristiano is fit to play, that's all I can say."

But this is the World Cup, and Ronaldo is too head strong and too prideful to not compete for his nation.

He probably believes that, even while suffering through a career-threatening knee injury, is still superior to 100 percent of the world's footballers.

SEE ALSO: Germany's Draw With Ghana Was The Best Possible Outcome For The US

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During the World Cup, some trading floors on Wall Street might change the channel from stock market news to watch soccer (or football). 

It turns out there are many former professional soccer players working in finance.

We've included a round up of them in the slides that follow. Please note, this list is not a ranking. 

** If you know of other top players working in finance, please email their name/photo to jlaroche@businessinsider.com. 

NCAA Division I soccer champ Pat Phelan is an advisor at a finance firm in Boston.

Finance Job: Phelan is now an advisor at Boston-area Cape Cod Wealth Strategies & Insurance Services, LLC. 

Education: Wake Forest University (2004 to 2007)

Position: Central Defender/Central Midfielder

Soccer Highlights: He played professionally for the San Antonio Scorpions and the New England Revolution. In 2008, he was a first round draft pick in the Major League Soccer Super Draft. While at Wake Forest, he was the captain of the 2007 Division 1 National Championship team. He was also named First Team NSCAA All-American. He was the 2004 Gatorade National Player of the Year. Growing up, he was a member a number of national teams for various age groups.

Former pro Espen Baardsen works for Eclectica Asset Management.

Finance Job: He currently works for Hugh Hendry's Eclectica Asset Management. 

Position: Goalkeeper

Soccer Highlights: Baardsen was born and raised in California. He ended up a goalkeeper for Tottenham. He went on to play for Norway even though he had never been there. He was the 3rd goalkeeper for the 1998 World Cup for Norway. He retired at age 25 to go into finance. 

Former U.S. national team player Pete Woodring runs a wealth management firm in San Francisco.

Finance Job: He's the founding partner of San Francisco-area wealth management firm Cypress Partners.

Education: University of California, Berkeley (1986 to 1991)

Position: Forward

Soccer Highlights: He was a three-time captain/MVP at Berkeley. In 1992, he was the second America to play in the Budesliga, Hamburg Sports Verin. In 1993, he got to play three games for the U.S. national team, including the 1993 U.S. Cup loss against Brazil. In 1994, he played in Denmark for Superliga and in 1996 he played for Major League Soccer's New England Revolution. 

Source: LinkedIn

Portugal defender Fabio Coentrão will miss the remainder of the World Cup with a groin injury.

He went down in the 65th minute of Monday's 4-0 loss to Germany, and had to be substituted.

The U.S. will face a depleted Portugal squad in their Group G game on Sunday in Manaus. 

In addition to Coentrão, starting center forward Hugo Almeida went down injured midway through the first half and is out of the group stage. Pepe, the team's erratic but talented center back, will miss the U.S. game after picking up a red card for heat-butting Thomas Müller.

In the end, Portugal will be without three first-choice players in a game in which it desperately needs three points.

The U.S. is similarly banged up. Jozy Altidore went down with a nasty hamstring injury in the 23rd minute against Ghana. Unless the injury isn't at all what it looked like, he won't be on the field on Sunday. Matt Besler, the team's starting center back, also got hurt, although coach Jurgen Klinsmann said subbing him out was only precautionary.

U.S. captain Clint Dempsey broke his nose after taking a kick to the face against Ghana. He said after the game that he was having trouble breathing.

Sunday's game could ultimately come down to depth and fitness. Portugal has players at top-level club teams that are perfectly capable of filling the shoes of Pepe, Coentrão, and Almeida. While the U.S. got major contributions from two substitutes — John Brooks and Graham Zusi — against Ghana, replacing Altidore looks like a problem without a solution.

The U.S. needs a draw from the game to remain favorites to advance from Group G. Even with the Portugal injuries, it's a tough task.

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The USMNT stole three points that they desperately needed in a 2-1 win over Ghana.

With the win, the Yanks' chance of making it out of the "group of death" improved from 33% to 67%. But in order to get to the knockout stage, the U.S. could use at least a tie against Portugal.

A tie or a win against Portugal can happen but it involves containing the best soccer player in the world: Cristiano Ronaldo. 

While Ronaldo has an injury, and there is a slight chance he won't play, the U.S. likely won't know that until hours before the game.

Business Insider asked soccer experts, some who have played in World Cups past, how the U.S. can stop Ronaldo, here's what they had to say.

Jimmy Conrad (@JimmyConrad), KICKTV host, and former World Cup defender for the USMNT : 

"They can’t because he’s just too good. And because he knows, at age 29, that this will be his last chance to have a legitimate opportunity to win a World Cup before he’s on the wrong side of 30. So he’ll be incredibly motivated, but they can do these two things to slow him down:

"1. Suffocate, stifle, and hound the players that provide him the ball in dangerous areas, specifically João Moutinho, who is an incredible passer of the ball for both club (Monaco) and country (Portugal) and if the U.S. gives him the time and space to pick up his head and make passes to Ronaldo, we’re toast.

"2. Similar to how the U.S. contained Portugal’s Luis Figo, the World Player Of The Year in 2000, in the 2002 World Cup by having U.S. defender Frankie Hejduk just follow him around the field for 90 minutes, they could elect to put someone solely on Ronaldo, the 2013 World Player Of The Year, like a Timmy Chandler, for example, to play the role of pest and hope for the best."

(You can watch Conrad's preview of the Portuguese team on KICKTV here)

Jeff Agoos (@JeffAgoos), Vice President of Competition for MLS, and former World Cup defender for the USMNT:

SEE ALSO: Cristiano Ronaldo: How The Best Soccer Player In The World Spends His Millions

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