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Portugal beat Ghana in a thrilling encounter to top their group in their tournament opener. They now top the group with 3 points and are in pole position to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament. They are also in a good position to top the group as they are two points ahead of both South Korea and Uruguay who earlier drew. This win is therefore more significant as they have capitalised on the opportunity to go a couple of points clear.
Ronaldo dominates the headlines
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player in the world to score in 5 World Cup tournaments. The 37-year-old endured a frustrating first half as he missed a couple of opportunities but he was looking lively, which was encouraging. He was then fouled in the box by a Ghanian player and made no mistake when converting the penalty. The Portuguese captain was playing for the first time since his controversial television interview last week with Piers Morgan and his subsequent release by Manchester United following the comments. He showed his emotion before the game as this is likely to be his last world cup and he will definitely be aiming to light up the tournament with his performances. This goal opened up the game as it was quite flat up until that moment. Ghana showed terrific spirit and equalised through Jordan Ayew.
Portugal then responded with two goals in two minutes to deal the points, Joao Felix converting a good, chipped finish and substitute Rafael Leao calmly finishing just seconds after coming on. Osman Bukhari headed in a late consolation for Ghana to make things interesting. Bruno Fernandes also deserves praise as he provided the two assists for Portugal’s two goals which proved to be match-winning.