Ronaldo scores hat trick for Portugal
— Cristiano Ronaldo completed a hat trick with a perfectly taken free kick in the 88th minute to give Portugal a 3-3 draw against Spain on Friday at the World Cup.
Ronaldo had twice given Portugal the lead with first-half goals, but Diego Costa equalized for Spain with a goal in each half. Nacho Fernandez then put the 2010 champions ahead with a one-timer from outside the area in the Group B match.
Spain looked to have successfully overcome its dramatic coaching change one the eve of the tournament but Ronaldo curled a late shot over the wall to force the draw.
Ronaldo’s opening goal from the penalty spot allowed him to become the fourth player to score in four World Cups, joining Pele, Miroslav Klose and Uwe Seeler. Ronaldo also became the first Portuguese player to appear in four World Cups.
His second goal came after a blunder by Spain goalkeeper David de Gea, who let the ball bounce off his hands and into the net.
Spain badly needed a winning start after the federation fired coach Julen Lopetegui two days before its tournament debut for accepting a job with Real Madrid without letting it know in advance. Sporting director Fernando Hierro, a former player, was picked as Lopetegui’s replacement and was on the bench despite no significant previous coaching experience.
It was an exciting start to one of the group-stage’s most anticipated matches and it didn’t take long before Ronaldo and Portugal struck first.
Ronaldo made a nice step over move to get past Fernandez, his Real Madrid teammate, and was fouled at the edge of the area. He then calmly sent his shot to the right corner as De Gea went the other way.
Ronaldo then rubbed his chin in an apparent reaction to Adidas’ “GOAT” promotion with Lionel Messi. GOAT is the acronym for “greatest of all time” and Adidas is running an ad featuring Messi with a real goat.