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World Cup 2018

5 shots from World Cup 2018 Day 2 - The legend of Ronadonis is alive and well

Cristiano Ronaldo, captain and mastermind of Portugal's campaign
Cristiano Ronaldo, captain and mastermind of Portugal's campaign REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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  • Russia is flying

That 5-0 hammering of Saudi Arabia on day one has set the cat among the pigeons. Russia’s annihilation of the Saudis coupled with Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Egypt means that Hector Kuper’s Pharoahs – for so are the Egyptian team nicknamed – have a pyramid to climb when they take on the hosts in St Petersburg on 19 June.

Anything less than a win means Egypt will be eliminated. Even a draw might not be enough as they’ll need to absolutely wallop Saudi Arabia in their last Group A match.

  • It’s a cruel game, Part II

This subsection of the review will run to many chapters. On day one, we witnessed the woebegone face of Russia striker Alan Dzagoev when he had to go off with a hamstring injury in the first half of the game against Saudi Arabia. There was collective misery on the faces of the Egypt team when José Gimenez rose to head home Uruguay’s goal in the 89th minute of their opening Group A game. It was Uruguay’s first opening game win at the World Cup since 1970.

  • It’s a cruel game, part III

Actually, we might have to close down this subsection before it gets out of hand. Iran rejoiced late in their game against Morocco. Their Group B opener was sliding towards a draw when Iran had a corner. The ball was hoisted into the box and on the end of it was Aziz Bouhaddouz. In it flashed past the goalkeeper Munir for an own goal. Iran, for a while, were top of Group B. The self-anointed underdogs had their win. Misery for Morocco. Ecstacy for Iran.

  • Hey Cristiano, you’re not bad at all!

Hail the world footballer of the year Cristiano Ronaldo for giving us a masterclass in pomp and preening and panache. He scored from the penalty spot to give Portugal the lead in their opening Group B game in Sochi. After Diego Costa levelled, Ronaldo scored his 83rd international goal thanks to a sloppy bit of goalkeeping from David de Gea. That made it 2-1 to Portugal. But Spain had the temerity to try and upstage our Cristi by equalising and then taking the lead. The nerve. But sensibly, Spain conceded a free-kick just outside the penalty area with the 90 minutes almost up.

We all knew what was coming. But it was done with a sense of self basting that the great Shakespearean actors would have saluted. After a couple of pouty exhales - to add dramatic intensity – he rolled the shorts up high and tight on his right leg. The sculpted thigh muscle thus exposed, Ronadonis surged forward and scooped the ball up and over the wall and into the top right hand corner of the goal. De Gea adorned the beauty of the vignette by not moving. 3-3. So are legends enhanced.

  • Hierro today, Gone tomorrow.

The Ronaldo hat trick will be the main talking point of the Spain v Portugal match. And that might be a good thing for Spain’s hastily installed new coach Fernando Hierro. He took over from Julen Lopetgui on the eve of the World Cup after he was sacked by an irked Spanish FA for accepting the Real Madrid coaching post. In the second half, with Spain leading 3-2, Hierro took off frontman bulldozer Diego Costa who had been giving the Portuguese backline a bruising day.

The replacement was lightweight in comparison and Spain retreated as Portugal came sniffing for the equaliser. Hierro also replaced midfield maestros Andres Iniesta and David Silva. If you want men to hold the ball and keep the opposition at bay, these are two of the best. Maybe one or the other. But both?

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