Cristiano Ronaldo's Breath-Taking Freekick Steals The Show In Portugal/ Spain Stunner

Cristiano Ronaldo's Breath-Taking Freekick Steals The Show In Portugal/ Spain Stunner
21:11, 15 Jun 2018

When the World Cup groups were announced, Portugal versus Spain was one of the most eagerly anticipated of the opening matches, the near neighbours boasting many of Europe’s biggest stars. These two sides both had excellent defensive records coming into the game, with only England and Spain (three) having conceded less than Portugal (four) in ten qualifying matches.

That stat only served to highlight that form often goes out of the window once the competitive action begins, as this topsy-turvy encounter wowed football supporters with goals, intensity and star quality throughout. Many did not know what to expect from the Spaniards after they sacked Julian Lopetegui just two days before the tournament began and the side – now fronted by Fernando Hierro – were struggling right from the start.

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo had never scored versus La Roja but after he was fouled in the box by club team-mate Nacho on three minutes, and of course the 33-year-old superstar made no mistake with the resulting spot kick. With that goal, Ronaldo had scored in his eighth major international tournament in a row, further playing himself into the record books as he became only the fourth player ever to score in four consecutive World Cups.

Spain slowly began to play themselves back into the game, stringing together multiple passes as supporters have come to expect in recent years. Yet for all the possession, striker Diego Costa single-handedly made the equaliser, this solitary strike already having eclipsed his total of zero goals during the 2014 World Cup.

Yet just as Spain seemed to be fighting back, David De Gea gifted Ronaldo a goal when the striker’s shot should have been saved to make the score 2-1 to Portugal in what was an extremely entertaining 45 minutes of football.

Just ten minutes had passed after the restart before Costa had found the net once again, poking home a headed cross from Sergio Busquets after a David Silva free-kick. Perhaps De Gea relieved a sigh of relief when the scores were back level, and just three minutes later Nacho also found redemption with a spectacular strike from the edge of the box as Spain took the lead for the first time in this enthralling encounter.

After Spain had finally got their noses in front, Hierro’s men went into full tiki taka mode, trying to kill off the game by passing their opponents into oblivion. However with five minutes remaining, Ronaldo won a free-kick in a central position just outside the D and as he settled his breath before taking his shot on goal, it almost seemed to be fate that this outstanding player would fire in to level the scores.

And he did.

Bending an inch-perfect, powerful shot around the wall and beyond a helpless De Gea, Ronaldo levelled the scores in some style, completing his hat-trick and winning a vital point for his side. It may have only been a group stage game, but it was one of those World Cup matches that will go down in history as one of the very best.

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