Portugal star man fired his team past ibrahimovic's sweden

I t was billed as the battle of the
big names, and at the halfway
mark it is Cristiano Ronaldo who is
poised to appear at the World Cup
at the expense of Zlatan
Ibrahimovic.
The Real Madrid striker’s
predatory instinct was the
difference between the two men –
and their respective nations – as
a solitary late header in Lisbon
gave Portugal a slender first-leg
advantage over Sweden in their
do-or-die World Cup playoff.
It was impossible for the game to
really live up to the huge build-up
it was given, especially given that
so much of the hype was due to
the very fact that both of the
countries involved rely so heavily
on one man. And, for long spells,
the game did carry the demeanour
of two sides lacking cohesion and
structure as the star men were
well marshalled.
However, the second half looked
set to offer Portugal something
more as it began to find space in
around the Blagult back four, and
sure enough it was Ronaldo who
broke the deadlock. When Miguel
Veloso found space on the left
and delivered a cross in behind
the defensive line, the main man
was there on the end of it, getting
in front of Martin Olsson to head
home.
Ronaldo’s 63rd goal of 2013 may
not yet be enough on its own, but
it is a potentially vital goal in the
outcome of the tie. Sweden now
knows that it needs to score at
least three goals to make one
more Portuguese goal irrelevant.
Many teams have overcome such
a deficit before, but too many
underdogs have considered
beginning a second leg a goal
behind to a better side as a fair
trade only to find out it is not.
And on the evidence of Friday,
Portugal is the better side. Zlatan
will have to have one of his very
best nights on Tuesday if Ronaldo
is not to feature in Brazil next