Cristiano Ronaldo scored the first goal from the penalty spot in Portugal’s 3-2 victory over Ghana on Thursday, becoming the first player to score at five World Cups.
When the 37-year-old converted his penalty kick in the 65th minute at the 974 Stadium in Doha, he broke the previous record. This result put Fernando Santos’ squad in first place in Group H, two points clear of Uruguay and South Korea.
After Andre Ayew’s equalizer momentarily threatened to spoil Ronaldo’s celebration, Joao Felix and emerging sensation Rafael Leao ensured the victory.
Osman Bukari scored for Ghana in the dying seconds, but the tournament’s lowest-ranked team was unable to pull off an upset and finished last in the group.
After being fouled by Mohammed Salisu and accepting the penalty, Ronaldo surpasses Pele, the Germans Uwe Seeler and Miroslav Klose, who all scored in four World Cups.
After criticizing the team and manager Erik ten Hag in a TV interview, Manchester United announced this week that Ronaldo will be leaving with immediate effect. However, Ronaldo has shown no indications of stress throughout his whole stay at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo received all of the hype prior to the game on his potential to break the record, and he had the ideal opportunity to do it in the 10th minute.
Otavio slipped Ronaldo through after Mohammed Kudus carelessly gave the ball away in midfield, but the once-amazing finisher was unable to control the ball and collided with Lawrence Ati-Zigi of Ghana as he attempted to poke home.
Soon after, Ronaldo missed a close-range header on Raphael Guerreiro’s deep cross, which in his peak he would have been nearly certain to score.
Just beyond the halfway point, the ball did land to him in the area, but the referee harshly ruled that he had shoved Alexander Djiku before turning and putting the ball in the back of the net with a brilliant finish.
Despite Portugal being the worst team in Group H on paper, Ronaldo was the only significant goal threat for Portugal. Their fervent fans put on a better show in the stands than their plodding players did at first.
10 minutes after the interval, Ajax midfielder Kudus broke through an open Portugal defense and fired a powerful drive that ultimately flew comfortably wide of Diogo Costa’s left-hand post, temporarily raising the fans to their feet.
Ayew stunned the fans by tucking in Kudus’ pull-back in the 73rd minute, igniting the previously slow game. Ronaldo then crashed in his record-breaking penalty, but as the chorus of shouts and chanting of his name started to die down, a hitherto monotonous game erupted into life.
Bruno Fernandes, a former colleague of Ronaldo’s at United, set up both of Felix and Leao’s stunning goals, which ensured Portugal would win the game.
After heading in fully unguarded, Bukari emulated Ronaldo’s goal celebration, but Portugal held on for a commanding victory on a historic day.
AFP
