Ronaldo scores as Portugal squeeze past Ghana
CRISTIANO Ronaldo drew a line under a tumultuous tournament build-up as he wrote his name in the record books to become the first player to score in five World Cups in a 3-2 victory for Portugal over Ghana last night.
Ronaldo drilled home a penalty in the 65th minute of the Group H encounter to set his side on their way and while Andre Ayew equalised for Ghana, Portugal turned on the afterburners with two quick-fire goals to effectively seal the deal at Stadium 974.
Most of the action was condensed into a short period after the 60th minute with Portugal taking the lead when awarded a soft penalty after Ronaldo went down following minimal shoulder-to-shoulder contact with Mohammed Salisu.
Ronaldo closed his eyes as he waited to begin his run up, stuttered and smashed the ball into the net to the goalkeeper’s right.
Ghana fired back quickly though when Mohammed Kudus’ cross found its way to Ayew who tapped home. Portugal then revved into gear with Joao Felix latching onto a Bruno Fernandes through ball and lifting his finish nonchalantly over the keeper.
Fernandes was the architect of their third goal too, playing another superb through ball for substitute Rafael Leao to slide his finish across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.
There was tension at the end, however, as Ghana pulled another goal back with Osman Bukari heading a cross from the left in the 89th minute.
In an earlier Group G match, the sight of Roger Milla on the pitch before Cameroon lost 1-0 to Switzerland only underlined the ineffectiveness of the west Africans’ attack in their first match of the World Cup.
To rub salt into Cameroon’s wounds, Switzerland’s scorer Breel Embolo was born in Cameroon.
Meanwhile, Son Heung-min was everywhere around Education City Stadium with South Korean fans sporting his shirt and a giant cut-out of his face, but on the pitch their talisman was a subdued figure in yesterday’s 0-0 stalemate with Uruguay.