Cristiano Ronaldo finally scored a World Cup knockout goal at the grand old age of 41 – but deputy Goncalo Ramos stole his thunder for Portugal.
Boss Roberto Martinez has been hounded all tournament for his reluctance to drop or substitute veteran Ronaldo but he got his in-game moves spot on as his team overcame a gutsy and spirited Croatia side in Toronto.
Ronaldo was not one of four substitutions in the 63rd minute and he repaid his manager’s faith five minutes later to score a penalty which cancelled out Ivan Perisic’s 53rd-minute opener.
Then when Ronaldo was finally hooked, the man who took over the No 9 position in new AC Milan signing Ramos scored a 94th-minute winner with a fine header after Rafael Leao’s cross.
Croatia thought they had equalised in the 13th minute of stoppage time through Josko Gvardiol but Mario Pasalic was deemed to be offside in a highly contentious VAR call.
It means Portugal set up a tantalising last-16 clash against Spain in Dallas on Monday night.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored Portugal’s equalised against Croatia before being substituted
Martinez gets Ronaldo calls bang on
Ronaldo was a millisecond away from bouncing into his iconic ‘siu’ celebration when he glanced to his right to see the offside flag raised.
When he looked to the other direction, he would have seen four Portugal players limbering up to come on as substitutes.
With two forwards among them, it felt inevitable that Ronaldo’s international career might be over. All those great moments ending with a marginal offside call.
But these lot write their own scripts, just like his great rival Lionel Messi did in 2022 in Qatar.
Within minutes, Ronaldo was wheeling away again and unfurling the celebration after confidently dispatching a penalty straight down the middle.
Manager Martinez had resisted the nagging temptation to hook Ronaldo and he was repaid.
Other than scoring the penalty, though, the 41-year-old did nothing to warrant his selection. He was missing in action most of the game.
Ramos, who this week joined AC Milan for around £63.5million, occupied space and put himself about in a way that Ronaldo did not and his last-gasp header was a memorable moment.
Did VAR get it right?
It was a VAR call that will be the talk of Croatia for decades to come.
Did Igor Matanovic touch the ball? As the long ball came into the penalty area, there was no doubt Pasalic was offside.
But from the angles shown on TV, there was no conclusive evidence – either way – to suggest whether Matanovic had headed on the cross and not just defender Renato Veiga.
With such fine margins, it feels like another moment that VAR has ruined our beautiful game. Given how well Croatia played and how they deserved something from the match, it is hard not to feel sorry for them.
It’s hard not to feel sorry for Croatia after they has a last-minute equalised stolen from them
Kovacic masterclass counts for nothing
Mateo Kovacic had perhaps the game of his career in midfield and really should have scored at least one goal.
The Manchester City man glided through Portugal with ease and his shot midway through the second half, tipped on to the post by Diogo Costa, deserved to put Croatia ahead.
Likewise his pass from deep to Petar Sucic would have been one of the assists of the tournament had the Inter man not been narrowly offside.
In a game where Paris Saint-Germain’s dynamite duo of Joao Neves and Vitinha were in a trio with Bruno Fernandes, and former Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric was on the pitch, Kovacic was by far the best midfielder.
Perisic was another who had a positive night. The former Inter Milan, Bayern Munich and Tottenham man, now 37, took his goal well and is maybe overlooked as one of the great veterans at this tournament.
Croatia, like Senegal the night before, looked shellshocked at the end. They did enough to win or at least force extra-time. They were daring, exciting and caused all sorts of problems. But it was not to be.
Leao outshines team-mates
Ronaldo was ineffective, Pedro Neto was barely noticeable. And so it was Rafael Leao who was the brightest spark for Portugal.
In the first minutes, the winger skipped past Bayern Munich’s Josip Stanisic and put a perfect cut-back in the path of Bruno Fernandes only for the shot to be well blocked.
Not long later, Leao chipped a fancy ball on to the head of Renato Veiga only for it to go over the crossbar.
Croatia started to double up on Leao which meant his evening quietened after an electrifying start – but he was still a bright spark, who seemed to get annoyed at Ronaldo for some negative passes at times.
His 58th-minute curling effort rattled the crossbar and was centimetres away from an equaliser, then he provided an inch-perfect cross for Ramos’s winner. What a fine assist.
AC Milan fans will not like this next sentence, but is it time Leao got a big move? The Italians giants are a huge club but can he do better? Now 27, so maybe the ship has sailed, but it is 80 goals in 291 club games for the winger.
Rafael Leao was the star for Portugal as he was finally given his first start of the tournament
Mendes vs Yamal, anyone?
‘What full back could give Lamine Yamal a game?’ – that was the question posed on BBC as Spain eased past Austria in the earlier kick-off.
Well, Portugal’s Nuno Mendes might give it a good go, or at least as good as any.
He has been the best left back in the game over the last two years at Paris Saint-Germain, twice champions of Europe – and that clash in Dallas looks like a real meeting of heavyweights.
Mendes is better going forward than he is defensively, which could be a concern for Spain and right back Pedro Porro, who sometimes looks isolated.
That clash in Dallas, 8pm on Monday night for UK viewers, looks like an all-time classic in the making.
How much is David Beckham set to pocket from his World Cup brand deals? Take on our quiz in our newsletter HERE
