Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo wasted no time in responding to the criticism that followed a drab start to their World Cup campaign as he opened the scoring in six minutes against Uzbekistan.
A 1-1 draw with DR Congo was a lacklustre opener for Roberto Martinez’s side, and led to renewed scrutiny over the role of record scorer Ronaldo.
But after keeping his starting spot for the second Group K outing, the 41-year-old issued his own reply to record-breaker Lionel Messi by writing himself into history, becoming the first player to score in six editions of the World Cup.
Tournament debutants Uzbekistan, managed by 2006 World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro, showed resilience in their opening fixture against Colombia, though eventually slipped to a 3-1 defeat and now face a real uphill battle in their bid to get a result against the Selecao.
Follow all of the latest from the World Cup clash with our live blog below:
GOAL! Portugal 2-0 Uzbekistan (Mendes 17)
After a daft delay where the referee is trying to sort out the walls – both teams have formed one – Mendes takes the free kick instead with Ronaldo fooling everyone as a decoy and it sails into the bottom left corner. That is very, very smart and Portugal could be about to put up a cricket score.
Portugal 1-0 Uzbekistan
13’ – This has been a big struggle for Uzbekistan so far.
Khamrobekov chops Neto down just outside the box, earning himself a yellow card and gifting Portugal a free kick in a spot half their team will feel confident of scoring from.
Third time lucky
Ronaldo has entered the chat. Portugal sent a couple of really good balls into the box which he wasn’t quite in the right place for, but third time lucky. He is almost useless when his team don’t have the ball, and he doesn’t add a huge amount when they do. But Ronaldo is still one of the best strikers in the world around the six-yard box.
Portugal 1-0 Uzbekistan
10’ – Ronaldo has become the first player in history to score at six World Cups.
Although his record remains nine in total.
Portugal 1-0 Uzbekistan
8’ – Watching a replay back Ronaldo does really well to get in front of Abudallaev before meeting Cancelo’s ball. No, he does not need to sprint, and this is very much a poacher’s finish – but it is an undeniably really good goal.
GOAL! Portugal 1-0 Uzbekistan (Ronaldo, 6)
This time he does not need to sprint – meeting a perfect cross from the right to put Portugal in front. And the whole stadium bar a small portion of Uzbekistan fans scream “Siuuuuu.”
Portugal 0-0 Uzbekistan
4’ – A big miss from Ronaldo. Mendes puts it on a platter for the star man with a delicious delivery from the left. Except Ronaldo just cannot run with the pace of old to meet the ball for what would have been a close-range tap in. He’d have put that away nine times out of 10 at his peak.
Ronaldo attraction
A sign of the power of Ronaldo’s celebrity: as the seconds counted down to kick-off, Uzbekistan’s Aziz Ganiev took his chance, reaching out over the halfway line to embrace the great man, and he got a hug in return. Roy Keane would be seething.
Portugal 0-0 Uzbekistan
2’ – Uzbekistan, in a deep 5-4-1, are setting out their stall immediately. They will let Portugal have it and hope to frustrate while waiting to use any sporadic window to counter.
Fernandes, close to the penalty spot, sends the first shot of the match over via a deflection. Portugal have a corner that is taken short and amounts to nought.
