Portugal enters the World Cup eagerly, but suffering is (still) in the blood
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If fado is suffering, Portugal went to Qatar to give a concert against Ghana. And there was silence, at least twice, when after scoring, the corner team decided to suffer.
Ronaldo, from the penalty spot, Félix and Rafael Leão built the Portuguese goals in a game in which Ayew and Bukari still gave hope to the Ghanaians, who ended the game trying for a draw. Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, has yet another record: he is the first player ever to score in five World Cups.
With this result, Portugal rises to the leadership of Group H, with three points, two more than Uruguay and South Korea, who this afternoon tied without goals.
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Finally, attention turned to the pitch of Stadium 974: built with content, the stage of the Portuguese debut in Qatar. And, judging by the initial eleven, who was in the stands would be preparing for a match. It’s just that, in the initial 11, there were Bruno, Bernardo, Félix and Ronaldo ready to attack the Ghanaian goal. In defence, Danilo was the main novelty and Pepe – sidelined until recently – stayed on the bench.
This afternoon’s attention naturally focused on the new free-kick Ronaldo. Already without a contract with Manchester United, the Portuguese has this tournament to show what he can still offer to anyone who, in January, wants to bet on him. As a matter of fact, right at the first intervention she received a round of applause that, after having sung the hymn almost in tears, she would have welcomed the soul.
It took him ten minutes to find himself face to face with the Ghanaian guardian, Zigi. In a loss of the ball by the Africans in the central corridor – a complicated area -, the ball ended up at the feet of Otávio, who sent the captain deep. Ronaldo made a reception directed towards the goal, but he also advanced the ball.
He didn’t finish, but opened the book. Three minutes later, she was doing one of those jumps she’s already made famous: a good half meter above everyone else, she headed wide.
And how did this all work? The first fifteen minutes of the game saw a midfield with Rúben Neves as the most defensive midfielder, Otávio in front of him, on the left, and Bernardo on the right, between the corridor and the central zone. Up front, Ronaldo in the middle, Félix on the left and Bruno Fernandes on the right. But everything made up a merry-go-round and, apparently, only Neves didn’t have the coin to go around it.
On the other side, a fearless Ghana. Maybe even too much. It’s just that the Africans didn’t give up changing the ball from behind, starting with the goalkeeper, but Portugal didn’t give up being pressured either. And Otávio, Bruno and Neves, not being boys to be quiet, were creating chaos.
Incidentally, for that very reason, in the 30th minute, the ball ended up in Félix, who found Ronaldo inside the penalty area. Dispatched a defender with a “come over there”, he turned and shot for the back of the net, but referee Ismail Elfath understood that the force of the previous encounter had been too much. So, goal disallowed.
After a controlling first half of the game – with a ball possession of 62% – and after having successfully removed the only dangerous crosses from Ghana – in two corner kicks -, the final pressure began before the break. Félix is growing, but he needed to get along with Ronaldo and, therefore, there were not the same goals until the break. For example, in a World Cup that had long minutes of compensation at the end of each half, this game had only two.
Marking and falling asleep makes you suffer
Fernando Santos did not change the 11 on the pitch at half-time, but with five minutes played in the second half, William Carvalho was already warming up, accompanied by André Silva and Dalot. And it was from the sidelines that he saw Ghana grow and approach the first goal.
Kudus ran away from Rúben Neves and shot down the center aisle. Arriving at the entrance to the penalty area, he shot hard and low, forcing Diogo Costa to fly and more than ten million to sigh with relief. Fernando Santos didn’t wait any longer, because he couldn’t: Otávio was injured, William entered.
After a few minutes to readjust, Portugal created danger there again. Guerreiro backhanded Félix, who launched Ronaldo into space. The Portuguese shared the bid with Salisu, fell, and Elfath pointed to the 11 meters. It was a penalty for Portugal, although much contested by the Ghanaians.
Ronaldo took over, took a deep breath, shot and scored. Ball to the left – the same side Zigi dived for – shot with power and height. The clear “Siiiiu” followed, which echoed throughout the 974 stadium. It was Portugal’s first goal in this World Cup and the confirmation of yet another record for Ronaldo: he is the first player to score in five World Cup final stages.
But Portugal wasn’t playing alone and soon forgot that. Kudus – who filled the field – went up low on the left and took a low cross that, in a single blow, betrayed Danilo and Raphael Guerreiro. Ayew, captain and experienced striker, only played for the equaliser.
The answer came from the bank. Rafael Leão came on for Rúben Neves and it was on the field that he saw the Portuguese response materialize. First, it was Bruno Fernandes who helped unlock the game. He launched João Félix into space, low on the right, and the Portuguese forward spiked past Zigi for 2-1.
Inspired, the Portuguese “went up” and reached the third by Rafael Leão. The striker included by FIFA in the top 20 of the best in the world appeared on the left already inside the penalty area, opened the body and shot cross and low for 3-1. Once again, assistance was provided by Bruno Fernandes.
Having achieved the advantage of two goals, Fernando Santos abdicated Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo and Félix, who saw Ghana score another one from the bench. It was Bukari who, after another cross on the left, scored the right shot to make it 3-2. In all this, Palhinha, João Mário and Gonçalo Ramos were already on the field.
“Only” had nine minutes left to play and Ghana showed no signs of slowing down: Kyereh and Semenyo came on to replace Abdul Samed and Salisu. The Portuguese art of suffering began to be practiced, with the right to a paddling error in the last minute of extra time.
Alone in his own penalty area, and with the ball in hand, Diogo Costa did not see that he had an opponent behind him. Calm, he put the ball on the ground and, when he realized what he had done, an opponent already had it at his feet. Portuguese luck, Ghanaian bad luck, Bukari slipped and Danilo kicked away. It was the final guitar.
The shirt is on and the phone is turned off
The ball had not yet started to roll and already the prime minister, Antonio Costa, wears a sweater. Words from the man himself, who used Twitter to wish the Portuguese players good luck, just over half an hour before the start of the match. “In this opening game of the World Cup, I wish the Portuguese team good luck. We all have our shirts on”, can be read in the short message from the head of the Portuguese Government.
In Qatar, close to the protagonists, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa revealed that he tried to speak with Fernando Santos, but the national coach “had his cell phone turned off”.
“I know he’s in great shape and so are the players, they’ve been telling me that the mood is great. It started well with the other game, let’s see if it continues well”, said the President of the Republic.
Eleven from Portugal: Diogo Costa; João Cancelo, Rúben Dias, Danilo and Raphael Guerreiro; Rúben Neves and Otávio; Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and João Félix; Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ghana’s Eleven: Ati Zigi; Seidu, Djiku, Salisu, Amartey and Rahman; Partey and Abdul Samed; Kudus, Iñaki Williams and André Ayew.