Cristiano Ronaldo breaks taboo, and Portugal eliminates Croatia in stoppage time
With plenty of emotion, Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the round of 16 of the World Cup and advanced to the round of 16 of the tournament.
The Portuguese team came up behind on the scoreboard, but reached a draw with a penalty goal from Cristiano Ronaldo. Gonzalo Ramos, in the 48th minute, turned around and secured his place to face Spain, who beat Austria earlier and achieved their qualification.
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The game is scheduled for next Monday (6), at 4pm, at AT&T Stadium, in Dallas, Texas.
The game
Portugal started pressing against a well-placed defense set up by Croatia. The group insisted and abused aerial plays and crosses, especially with Rafael Leão.
In one of them, Bruno Fernandes came close to scoring, but Livakovic made the save and removed the danger. The Croatians even arrived, with Budimir, but there was a lack of direction in the header that went over the goal.
No shot was needed
After the three-minute hydration break, the Croatian team put the ball on the ground and began exchanging passes in search of a good infiltration of the Portuguese defense. But the lapse was short-lived. Quickly, Portugal resumed defensive actions.
Cancelo received it on the right, cut inside and crossed with his left leg. Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes were in the area, but no one managed to push the ball towards the goal. There was a lack of aggression while the ball was at the foot.
Looked for CR7
In Portugal's best opportunity so far, Nuno Mentes invaded the penalty area with freedom and space to finish. The full-back, however, preferred to look for Cristiano Ronaldo, and missed the chance.
Fatal arrival
In Croatia's second rise in the second half, Croatia made it 1-0 with veteran Perisic. The play started at the feet of Vlasic, who received it on the right and passed it to Stanisic. At the cross, the defense doesn't take it away, and the number 14 is left with no marking.
He had space to receive, dominate, adjust his body and hit the goal. The ball passed under the legs of Cancelo and Diogo Costa before finding the net.
End of the taboo
In the 15th minute, Cancelo made a perfect pass for Cristiano Ronaldo, who dominated with class and tapped in Livakovic, the goal that would end his World Cup knockout drought.
The flag marked the offside on the field, and the VAR confirmed that the number 7 had his shoulder in front of the opponent. The disappointment was evident on the star's face, but it didn't last long.
In the 20th minute, Renato Veiga was grabbed by Vlasic inside the area and the referee awarded the penalty after confirmation from VAR. It was the chance for CR7. With a firm shot, in the middle of the goal, he left everything the same on the scoreboard and drove the crowd crazy.
Nobody understood anything
After a ball hit the post by Kovacic, and a great save by Diogo Costa on a Matanovic shot, Sucic hit the target and put Croatia ahead on the scoreboard. The move very similar to Cristiano's was disallowed by VAR for offside.
Even before the video referee's decision, Roberto Martínez replaced Cristiano Ronaldo with Rúben Neves in the 36th minute. The star left the field visibly upset with the coach's decision.
Turnaround at the very end
Even without Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal went on the attack. Already in the added time period, Rafael Leão crossed with skill for Gonçalo Ramos, who disappeared more than the two defenders and headed the ball into the back of the net.
With refinements of cruelty
In the 57th minute, three minutes later than announced by the referee, Croatia equalized with an own goal, which was deflected off Renato Veiga. The goal was a blow to the Portuguese team.
The VAR, however, ruled that one of the Croatia players was offside, putting an end to the Portuguese suffering in Toronto.
Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first player to score in six World Cups
Source: CNN