Just four minutes into Portugal’s clash with Morocco, the star forward had put his side in front.
Wrestling his way between two defenders, Ronaldo buried a diving header to earn Portugal an early 1-0 lead.
It was his fourth goal of the tournament — in just his second game.
Group Stage
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
Visit Match Centre
The five-time world player of the year bagged a sublime treble against Spain in the heat of Sochi on Friday in Russia 2018’s standout match so far, the 51st of his glittering career.
“I’m very happy, it’s a nice personal record to have, one more in my career,” Ronaldo said on Tuesday.
STARTING XIS
Portugal (4-4-2)
Rui Patricio; Cedric, Pepe, Jose Fonte, Raphael Guerreiro; Joao Moutinho, William Carvalho, Joao Mario, Bernardo Silva; Goncalo Guedes, Cristiano Ronaldo (capt) Coach: Fernando Santos (POR)
Morocco (4-2-3-1)
Monir El Kajoui; Nabil Dirar, Mehdi Benatia (capt), Manuel Da Costa, Achraf Hakimi; Mbark Boussoufa, Karim El Ahmadi; Nordin Amrabat, Younes Belhanda, Hakim Ziyach; Khalid Boutaib
Portugal vs Morocco kicks off at 10pm Wednesday AEST. Follow all the action in the live blog below
“For me the most important thing is to emphasise what the team did against one of the favourites to win this World Cup.”
Morocco need to bounce back from their agonising 1-0 defeat against Iran but Portugal and Ronaldo in particular pose Herve Renard’s men a monumental challenge at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
“We lost a battle but we haven’t lost the war. We’re not dead,” said midfielder Faycal Fajr, one of 17 foreign-born players in Morocco’s squad.
LISTEN: All the World Cup talking points – The Splash podcast
FOLLOW ALL THE WORLD CUP ACTION LIVE! (If you can’t see the blog, click here)
