Cristiano Ronaldo silenced the doubters in emphatic style during Portugal’s World Cup clash with Uzbekistan. The 41-year-old scored a first-half brace after a week of discussion about whether he should be starting games.
His opening goal came with some clever movement and a brilliant finish from Joao Cancelo’s low cross. Ronaldo proved his intelligence inside the penalty area is still at the highest level.
He doubled his tally shortly before half-time after latching onto a perfectly-timed Bruno Fernandes pass to slot past the goalkeeper with ease. Despite proving his prowess in front of goal once again, many were more impressed with a goal he technically had no part in.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘High IQ’ Tactic to Throw Everyone Off
Many were fooled into believing Ronaldo would take on a free-kick on the edge of the opposition’s penalty area after confidently putting away his first goal. After all, he’s one of the highest-scoring players from those situations in history.
Instead, he stepped aside and allowed Nuno Mendes to rifle the ball past the goalkeeper, who appeared caught off-guard by the fact the Al-Nassr forward didn’t take it. His mere presence wasn’t the only thing that fooled him into thinking that, either.
It would have been easy for viewers to miss it, but Ronaldo reportedly made his frustrations about the Uzbekistan wall inching forward very clear to the referee. By telling the wall to keep their distance, it looked even more certain he’d be the one taking the shot on.
But still, Mendes was given a gap to hit a powerful effort into the net and double Portugal’s lead. Ronaldo quickly pointed to his head, seemingly proving the ‘200+ IQ play’.
More to follow.
