DOHA, Qatar
Portugal’s star forward Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday bagged another record as he scored opening goal in a nail biting game against Ghana.
With smoothly finished penalty kick, Ronaldo became the only player to score at five consecutive World Cups. Later, the arguably one of the best ever players also collected his Man of the Match (MoM) award for his performance during Portugal’s World Cup opener against the African nation.
The match went to the wire as Ghana nearly leveled it in the very last minute, but the Portuguese defenders had the nerves to block final attempt, and take the match away 3-2.
Just days after his contract was terminated at Manchester United following a tell-all interview, he let his scoring do the talking at the start of possibly his final World Cup.
“This was a beautiful moment,” Ronaldo said. “The world record, the only player to score in five World Cups, [it] makes me very proud.”
He has now scored in every World Cup since his first in 2006 when a penalty against Iran started his run of goals in the tournament. He has also scored a world record 118 goals in international games for Portugal.
“I think Cristiano is a phenomenon, a legend,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said. “In 50 years, we will continue to talk about him.”
