Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first ever World Cup knockout-stage goal – while also breaking a team-mate’s record – to give Portugal a lifeline in their last-32 clash against Croatia.
Trailing 1-0 after fellow veteran Ivan Perisic, 37, broke the deadlock in the second-half, Portugal were awarded a penalty by VAR after Nikola Vlasic brought down Renato Veiga during a corner.
Ronaldo stepped up and slotted down the middle to beat Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, ending a six-tournament wait for him to find the net in a knockout match.
It also meant Ronaldo, at 41, becomes the oldest ever player to score in the World Cup knockouts, snatching the record off former international and club team-mate Pepe, who scored at 39 years and nine months.
His spot-kick came just a minutes after Ronaldo had a superb equaliser chalked off for offside, bringing a lofted ball down and producing a nifty flick into the back of the net, only to see the flag go up.
That action may have spared him substitution by Portugal manager Roberto Martinez, who was planning to bring on four replacements, among which was Paris Saint-Germain striker – and Ronaldo’s understudy in this squad – Goncalo Ramos.
Martinez would have been justified in bringing Ronaldo off, who had been largely ineffective and appeared to be hindering the team, especially when Nuno Mendes tried to force the ball to his captain in an early second-half chance instead of shoot himself.
“Why has Mendes not shot? Why is he looking for Ronaldo there? That tells you everything about the Portugal players. They’re desperate to pick him out,” said BBC co-commentator Stephen Warnock.
The Spaniard opted not to bring off the striker after seeing his goal disallowed, giving him the chance to slot home from the spot and break his knockouts curse.
But after Croatia regained momentum and themselves had a goal disallowed for offside, Ronaldo was replaced with 10 minutes to play in what threatened to be his final ever World Cup appearance.
That was until Ramos, who came off the bench, rose high to head home a beautiful cross from Rafael Leao in stoppage time, breaking Croatia hearts as they suddenly looked destined to go out.
Spain would await Portugal for a mammoth last-16 tie if they can see out the win in Toronto, with La Roja themselves making a statement in an impressive 3-0 win over Austria on Thursday.
