After Ronaldo’s spectacular hat-trick against Spain, Portugal will be relying on their main man to carry them forward in the World Cup…
Ronaldo has been carrying his national team forward for quite some time now. He was involved in the most goals during the qualification stages for Portugal, and it did not take him long to make his mark in Russia against the pre-tournament favourites. Spain had problems of their own before the tournament due to the sudden sacking of manager Julen Lopetegui and had to sort themselves out against Portugal under new manager Fernando Hierro. Ronaldo, who had only scored three times in World Cup, would go on to score another three on the night.
The European champions were awarded a penalty within the opening few minutes as Ronaldo was fouled inside the box by his Real Madrid teammate Nacho. CR7 easily converted from the spot, becoming the first player to score in four different World Cup editions. Diego Costa cut the Portuguese’s lead after a wonderful shot. Just before the first-half whistle, Ronaldo’s weak left-footed shot somehow found its way into the back of the net, as a fumble from David de Gea proved costly. Spain would score twice in the second half through a second from Diego Costa and a wonderful volley from Nacho, who redeemed himself for the earlier penalty.
But as fate would have it, Ronaldo won a free-kick just outside the box from Gerard Pique in the dying moments of the match. Ronaldo, notorious for not scoring from free-kicks as of late, missed from the dead-ball situation earlier in the game. This time, Ronaldo curled a beauty over a wall of Spanish players and then down under the cross bar beating the Spanish goalkeeper. Portugal finished level with Spain, courtesy of their magician-in-chief.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the first player in #WorldCup history to score a hat-trick against #ESP
SIUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! pic.twitter.com/oRsT6w7kv5
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 15, 2018
This was Ronaldo’s 51st career hat-trick and his first in an international tournament. He became only the third Portuguese to score three in a World Cup and the oldest player ever to accomplish such a feat – and also the very first to net thrice against the Spaniards.
The rest of the Portuguese team never looked to be at the level of the five time Ballon d’Or winner. Valencia winger Goncalo Guedes missed multiple chances in-front of goal. The defense was all over the place as they could not withstand the excellence of the Spanish team. Portugal’s chances of going further into the competition rely heavily on the performances from their highest all-time goalscorer.
Portugal have an easy set of fixtures ahead, as the Seleção go up against Iran and Morocco. They will be hoping to top their group ahead of Spain and give themselves a favourable tie in the Round of 16. If they manage to go through to the quarter-final stage for the first time since 2006, Portugal and Ronaldo are likely to have a tough time against the stronger teams in the competition. But as they proved by becoming European champions in France against all odds, determination and individual brilliance from CR7 could see Portugal have a decent chance at glory – possibly their last opportunity with one of the football’s greatest.