Cristiano Ronaldo made World Cup history as Portugal defeated Ghana 3-2 in an highly entertaining game at the Stadium 974 in Rams Abu Aboud on Thursday evening to go top of Group H.
Despite having 70 per cent possession in the first half, Portugal were unable to overpower Ghana, who went toe-to-toe with the ninth best footballing nation in the world to end the first 45 minutes goalless.
The closest Portugal came to taking the lead was in the 31st minute when Ronaldo fended off Ghana defender Alexander Djiku to latch João Felix’s assist into the net but the referee disallowed the goal for a Ghana free kick.
Ghana returned for the second half of the encounter looking more confident and comfortable with the ball with fans of the the West African nation cheering them on.
Mohammed Kudus came close to breaking the deadlock after Ghana launched a counterattack from the centre of the pitch within ten minutes of the restart but the Ajax forward saw his long-range effort slightly off the bottom of the post.
Ronaldo made history in the 65th minute of the game when he scored a penalty that was awarded to Portugal after a challenge on the 37-year-old by Mohammed Salisu to put the one-time European champions in the lead.
With the goal, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner becomes the first-ever player to score in five different FIFA World Cup finals.
He is also now the second oldest player to score in a FIFA World Cup final.
Ghana had their first shot on target in the 71st minute of the game when Kudus once again fired a long-range shot from outside the box but was well dealt with by Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
Barely minutes later, Andre Ayew equalised for Ghana to score Africa’s first goal of the competition before Felix restored Portugal’s lead from Bruno Fernandes’s beautiful assist.
Within three minutes of his introduction into the match, Rafael Leão found the back of the net with another assist from Fernandes to double The Selection’s lead.
Substitute Osman Bukari pulled one back for the Black Stars and hilariously hit the famous Ronaldo trademark ‘shuii’ jubilation.
Afterwards, the Ghanaians gained control of the match in search of a last-gasp equaliser and almost achieved that when Bukari curled an effort which narrowly missed the post.
Inaki Williams missed a glorious chance to level the game for Ghana when he attempted to steal the ball from Portugal goalkeeper who was unaware the Villarreal attacker was behind him but failed to make use of the opportunity as Portugal walked away with the three points.
made World Cup history as Portugal defeated Ghana 3-2 in an highly entertaining game at the Stadium 974 in Rams Abu Aboud on Thursday evening to go top of Group H.
Despite having 70 per cent possession in the first half, Portugal were unable to overpower Ghana, who went toe-to-toe with the ninth best footballing nation in the world to end the first 45 minutes goalless.
The closest Portugal came to taking the lead was in the 31st minute when Ronaldo fended off Ghana defender Alexander Djiku to latch João Felix’s assist into the net but the referee disallowed the goal for a Ghana free kick.
Ghana returned for the second half of the encounter looking more confident and comfortable with the ball with fans of the the West African nation cheering them on.
Mohammed Kudus came close to breaking the deadlock after Ghana launched a counterattack from the centre of the pitch within ten minutes of the restart but the Ajax forward saw his long-range effort slightly off the bottom of the post.
Ronaldo made history in the 65th minute of the game when he scored a penalty that was awarded to Portugal after a challenge on the 37-year-old by Mohammed Salisu to put the one-time European champions in the lead.
With the goal, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner becomes the first-ever player to score in five different FIFA World Cup finals.
He is also now the second oldest player to score in a FIFA World Cup final.
Ghana had their first shot on target in the 71st minute of the game when Kudus once again fired a long-range shot from outside the box but was well dealt with by Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
Barely minutes later, Andre Ayew equalised for Ghana to score Africa’s first goal of the competition before Felix restored Portugal’s lead from Bruno Fernandes’s beautiful assist.
Within three minutes of his introduction into the match, Rafael Leão found the back of the net with another assist from Fernandes to double The Selection’s lead.
Substitute Osman Bukari pulled one back for the Black Stars and hilariously hit the famous Ronaldo trademark ‘shuii’ jubilation.
Afterwards, the Ghanaians gained control of the match in search of a last-gasp equaliser and almost achieved that when Bukari curled an effort which narrowly missed the post.
Inaki Williams missed a glorious chance to level the game for Ghana when he attempted to steal the ball from Portugal goalkeeper who was unaware the Villarreal attacker was behind him but failed to make use of the opportunity as Portugal walked away with the three points.
