Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the heroes for the United States on Thursday afternoon. Wait, doesn’t he play for Portugal? Yes, but Ronaldo’s first goal of the 2014 World Cup punched Team USA’s ticket to the knockout stage of the tournament.
The US was trailing Germany 1-0 at the time Ronaldo scored to give Portugal a 2-1 lead. Had Ghana defeated Portugal with the US losing to Germany, there is a chance Ghana could have won the goal differential tie-breaker with the US and advanced. Instead, Portugal — with it’s -3 goal differential — essentially put Jurgen Klinsmann’s team through.
As you can see, Ronaldo’s goal was pretty much a gift from Ghana goalkeeper Fatawu Dauda. Ghana had already given up an own goal earlier in the match, so Ronaldo’s strike capped off a rough day for them.
GIF via @cjzero
