New Zealand 0 Portugal 4: Cristiano Ronaldo leads national team to semi-finals

Posted Sunday, June 25, 2017 by Dailystar.co.uk

Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo stood out against New Zealand

The win, however, came at a cost as Manchester City-bound midfielder Bernardo Silva was substituted because of an ankle injury.

With hosts Russia losing against Mexico in Kazan, Portugal progressed as Group A winners, while the All Whites finished bottom following a third straight defeat.

Captain Ronaldo put Portugal ahead from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute.

Bernardo Silva – set to leave Monaco in a £43m deal – swiftly doubled the lead with a close-range finish but in doing so landed awkwardly on his ankle.

He struggled on for the rest of the half but was taken off at half-time. Forward Andre Silva wrapped up the comfortable victory with a fierce angled finish after 80 minutes and Nani added a fourth in stoppage time.

New Zealand, the OFC Nations Cup winners, had made a positive opening with Leeds forward Chris Wood seeing his shot saved.

Ronaldo rattled the crossbar before Ipswich defender Tommy Smith bundled over Danilo Pereira following a corner and the Real Madrid forward scored the resulting penalty.

It was soon 2-0 when Bernardo Silva converted a low cross from Pereira Eliseu after 37 minutes.

However, the attacking midfielder turned his ankle as he landed ahead of a sliding challenge from Tom Doyle, which saw him replaced by Luis Pizzi after the break.

Just before half-time, Portugal forward Andre Silva lashed out at Michael Boxall after a tussle with the New Zealand defender, which left him with a torn shirt – but could easily have also resulted in a red card.

New Zealand almost pulled a goal back on the hour when Doyle's ball across the face of goal from the left found Wood at the far post but Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio recovered to make a sliding block on the line.

Stefan Marinovic had produced a string of decent saves at the other end during the second half.

However, the All Whites keeper could do little when Andre Silva, who cost AC Milan some £33m from Porto, darted into the right of the penalty area before crashing the ball into the top corner.

Nani drilled in a fourth goal for Portugal during stoppage time.

Ronaldo said: "We are very happy to be in the semi-finals."

"We are confident and we want to win in the last four."

Boss Fernando Santos said: "I warned my players to not let them win balls in the air, and the team reacted well.

"I think the New Zealand team deserved to score a goal and they’re a team with great spirit and capacity."

New Zealand manager Anthony Hudson said: "At 2-0 we could have kept the scoreline respectable but we didn't."

"We had three strikers on the pitch and got caught at the end."