It was a nail-biting finale to the game pitching Portugal and Ghana at Stadium 974 at the ongoing FIFA World Cup.
Fernando Santos named a strong squad that contained Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, and Bernardo Silva. Ghana also had their experienced captain André Ayew and Thomas Partey lead the Black Stars of Ghana for their first match in this year’s World Cup.
Portugal started the quicker of both teams and Ronaldo had a goal ruled out for offside but both teams had settled for a goalless first half.
The breakthrough came when Ronaldo fell in the box and converted the resulting penalty to give Portugal the lead in the 65th minute. Portugal’s lead only lasted for 8 minutes before André Ayew equalized. João Félix restored the lead for Portugal 5 minutes with a delicious finish. Substitute, Rafael Leão scored the third in the 80th minute for a two-goal cushion. But a nervy finish was to be when Osman Bukari scored deep in normal time to make the score 3-2. Diogo Costa had a moment of “madness” when he dropped the ball but Ghana could not pounce on the opportunity to tie the game.
The result sees Ghana and Africa yet to win a game at the World Cup. Ronaldo’s goal on the other hand has made him the first player to score in 5 different World Cup tournaments.
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