Cristiano Ronaldo Equals Ferenc Puskas' European Record at FIFA World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal celebrates after scoring against Spain in their FIFA World Cup match in Sochi on June 15 (pic credit: IANS).
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, the 51st in FIFA World Cup history, as Portugal came back from behind to hold Spain to a 3-3 draw in their Group B match in Sochi on June 15.
Ronaldo, who single-handedly earned the point for Portugal showing tremendous big match temperament as well as spirit, scored in the fourth, 44th and 88th minute -- a freekick that left Spain goalkeeper David de Geo lead-footed.
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The Real Madrid superstar, who become the only player from Portugal to score at four FIFA World Cups, also
equalled Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas' record for most international goals by a European.
Ronaldo and Puskas, with 84 international goals each, are second on the all-time list, behind Iran football team legend Ali Daei, who has 109 strikes to his credit.
Cristiano Ronaldo's third (hat-trick) goal against Spain in #FIFAworldcup2018 with Malayalam commentary. ENJOY! pic.twitter.com/JvUYXVLaqO
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) June 16, 2018
Interestingly, Lionel Messi, who has scored 64 goals for Argentina, is in 18th spot in the all-time list, tied with Indian football team skipper Sunil Chhetri.
Ronaldo’s night
Spain suffered an early setback when Nacho fouled Ronaldo inside the penalty box and the star made no mistake from the spot, giving Portugal the lead.
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The Spaniards settled down from then on and started to control the game before Diego Costa found the equaliser in the 24th minute. Costa used his physical presence to beat Pepe to a high ball, dribbled past two defenders before sending the ball to the back of the net.
Ronaldo put Portugal back in the lead a minute before half-time, taking advantage of a mistake by De Gea.
Spain surged ahead after the restart with back-to-back goals -- Costa equalising for a second time from a free-kick in the 55th minute, and Nacho producing an excellent finish from outside the box a minute later.
Ronaldo however had other things in mind and earned a point for Portugal right at the end with a curling, dipping free-kick that De Gea had no chance of stopping.
(With inputs from IANS)
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