The Seleçao won all 3 points in their World Cup debut after Thursday’s thrilling 3-2 match between Portugal and Ghana.
Cristiano Ronaldo started for Portugal and served as the team’s captain despite having a turbulent week off the field as they sought to begin their campaign with a victory.
Early on, the unattached striker had the best opportunity as he bared down on goal, but the Ghanaian goalkeeper smothered the ball due to a sloppy touch.
After almost 20 minutes, Otto Addo’s team was still adhering to their game plan of staying deep and letting Portugal have the ball.
Portugal assumed they had managed to score at the half, but Ronaldo’s effort was disallowed due to a foul involved in the buildup.
Ghana was attempting to be a little more aggressive going forward in the second half, but after 50 minutes they had struggled to demonstrate any real quality in the final third.
Mohammed Kudus gave Ghana its first shot at goal, but the midfielder’s beautiful daisy-cutter missed the right post by a whisker.
Portugal, however, had a chance to go in front at the 64-minute mark. After a foul on Ronaldo, a very gentle penalty was awarded, and the Ballon d’Or winner struck home from 12 yards.
Amazingly, Ghana managed to score an equaliser. After a cross from the left, Andre Ayew scored from close range because he was in the right place at the right time.
A game that was at best tedious in the first half had now picked up steam. Portugal quickly regained the lead. Bruno Fernandes assisted Joao Felix in scoring with a cool finish from inside the box.A game that was at best tedious in the first half had now picked up steam. Portugal quickly regained the lead. Bruno Fernandes assisted Joao Felix in scoring with a cool finish from inside the box.
A short while later, it was 3. Rafael Leo had only been on field for a short while when he calmly sunk in a Bruno Fernandes pass.
With one minute of regular time left, Osman Bukari headed in at the far post to give Ghana a chance to respond and end this crazy second half.
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