Ronaldo left in a spot of bother
YES, Portugal won and are through to the last 16 of the World Cup. But it was close and, at times, farcical.
Ricardo Quaresma’s stunning strike on the stroke of half-time was cancelled out by a controversial stoppagetime penalty, via VAR, by Iran’s Karim Ansarifard.
But a golden chance for Iran with seconds remaining would have seen Portugal beaten and out.
Had Cristiano Ronaldo, who had a penalty saved, also been shown a red card instead of a yellow after 80 minutes it also could have been a different outcome.
He seemed to catch Morteza Pouraliganji with an elbow but after several more minutes’ referral to VAR, the Real Madrid star escaped with a booking.
As it is, Portugal finished tied on five points with Spain – who topped the group by scoring more goals – and the European champions now face Group A winners Uruguay in the last 16 in Sochi on Saturday.
In his role as pundit for the BBC, Alan Shearer criticised referee Enrique Caceres and VAR after the decision to award Iran the late penalty.
“If he thinks that’s a deliberate handball then he’s crazy,” said Shearer. “It’s nonsense, it’s utter nonsense. He had a clear view from 12 yards away and didn’t think it was a penalty. I’m trying to keep calm without swearing. I’m getting angry here because that’s just a ludicrous decision.
“In his rule book, every time it hits a hand it’s a penalty. It’s ridiculous. How can he [Portugal’s Cedric Soares] do anything about that? He’s half a yard away and the defender’s eyes are closed. There’s no way on earth that’s a deliberate handball.
“That was my fear coming into this tournament, that you’re going to get decisions like this. It turns the game into an absolute farce.”
Ansarifard converted the penalty to make it 1-1 and they almost snatched victory when Mehdi Taremi, shot into the sidenetting.
Ronaldo saw his weak spot-kick saved after yet another VAR decision but they survived.
And the winger could count himself fortunate to stay on the field following his elbow to the face o f Pouraliganji with some pundits suggesting he was lucky to stay on the pitch. Iran’ Alireza Jahanbakhsh said: “It’s such a disappointment for us. We created some chances but we didn’t score. “We had a big chance at the end of the game, we could have scored and won it.”
Portugal had faced a lot of criticism for their lacklustre display in their 1-0 victory against Morocco.
This display ony serves to confirm that they still have much work to do. IRAN (4-1-4-1): Beiranvand; Rezaeian, Hosseini, Pouraliganji, Hajsafi (Mohammadi 56); Ezatolahi (Ansarifard 76); Taremi, Jahanbakhsh (Ghoddos 70), Ebrahimi, Amiri; Azmoun. Booked: Hajsafi, Azmoun. Goal: Ansarifard 90pen. PORTUGAL (4-4-2): Rui Patricio; Cedric, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro; Quaresma (Bernardo Silva 69), W Carvalho, Adrien Silva, Joao Mario (Joao Moutinho 84); Andre Silva (Goncalo Guedes 90), Ronaldo. Booked: Guerreiro, Quaresma, Ronaldo, Cedric. Goals: Quaresma 45.
Referee: E Caceres (Paraguay).