God Of football

Chapter 1059: Advantage Restored!

Pedri, who had committed to pressing, was suddenly forced to turn sharply as the ball nearly caught him too.

When he'd turned enough, he reacted instantly and poked the ball into the feet of Rodri before the ball could further move away and the Manchester City player quickly made use of it.

Before any of the Portuguese players could sense where the ball was, he sent a long ball out to Lamine and instantly, Spain were away.

Lamine took the ball with Nuno Mendes already closing him down, and the Portuguese full-back stayed so tight that Lamine could feel him before he even turned.

But like he'd learned, Lamine touched the ball inside and arriving there was none other than Izan.

He had dropped off the Portuguese defence and now received the ball with Vitinha closing from behind, but instead of controlling it, Izan let it run.

Vitinha stepped forward expecting contact but immediately realised that there was none as the ball rolled straight beyond him and into Olmo's path.

"Beautiful dummy from Izan. It's the second time he's done this tonight, and it's worked like a charm!"

Dragging the ball in tow, Dani Olmo carried it forward and immediately curled a pass toward the right where space had opened up on the flank and Lamine, who hadn't stopped after his pass to Izan, was already accelerating into it!

Nuno Mendes and, for once, the Portuguese defender looked as though he might have been beaten by Lamine as he reached the ball first.

The Paris Saint-Germain players seemed to have another gear of speed when he saw Lamine touch the ball, but the moment he got to where Lamine was, the latter chopped back and sent the ball right into the middle once more!

The sudden movement caused Mendes to slip, but as he recovered, all he saw was that Izan had continued his run from the middle and arrived onto it.

The captain, barely getting into the ball, looked up into the box and saw there was barely any space, but it didn't matter.

He leaned over the ball and bent his shot from just outside the area.

Olmo sprinted into the box, hoping to redirect it into the back of the net, but he missed.

The ball continued beyond the Portuguese defenders and travelled all the way across the penalty area, looking like it was out, but then,

"Baena!"

The two commentators roared almost simultaneously as Alex Baena arrived at the far post and, without hesitation, he swung.

In goal, Diogo Costa shifted across his line, looking to cover all his angles, but he slowed when he saw the trajectory of the ball as Baena's shot flew into the side netting and, for a moment, nobody moved.

Baena stared at the net.

Then put both hands on his head, and all around the stadium, most of the Spanish fans had the same reaction!

"Oh, come on." Tyldesley exhaled.

"That should have been the lead for Spain!" he continued as McCoist shook his head.

"Absolutely. That ball from Izan was superb. Baena had the whole target to aim at."

As the two commentators went at it, the camera cut toward the Spanish bench where Luis de la Fuente was already on his feet.

He kicked a discarded bottle away from his technical area, and it didn't take a philosopher to tell he wasn't happy with the effort!

"And Luis de la Fuente isn't happy with that, and I wouldn't be either."

The Spanish manager mouthed something toward the pitch before turning away.

At the other end, Diogo Costa collected the ball and waited for his players to spread right as Spain began stepping back, but Izan immediately pointed toward the Portuguese defenders.

"Stay!"

The few of his teammates who had begun retreating halted and turned to face him!

"Stay up. Press them."

By then, Costa had played short to Dias, who turned but then immediately returned the ball as the Spanish press came.

Portugal eventually abandoned the attempt to build as Costa sent the ball long and Spain recovered it almost immediately.

Seeing that, Portugal dropped into shape, intent on not letting anything go past them and for the next few minutes that went by, Spain spent it all trying to systematically break down the Portuguese setup, but it wasn't easy to do.

Eventually, Spain began employing more of their creatives, with their balls starting to find more of Olmo and Izan, but then Porro got the ball and tried to invert into midfield.

The moment he stepped inside, three Portuguese shirts closed around him.

João Félix from one side.

Bruno Fernandes from another and then Vitinha from behind.

Porro, caught off guard, tried to force a pass toward Olmo, but it never reached him.

Bruno collected the ball and didn't even turn to pass.

He just sent the ball forward and prayed that his earlier glance had been enough, and thankfully it was after the ball began rolling into Ronaldo.

"Oh, Spain are in trouble here. Their defensive line is a mess," Clive called as Rodri, who had stepped out to block the ball, missed!

Ronaldo received near the edge of the area and immediately realised he couldn't turn with Cubarsi behind him, so he stopped and waited for a second.

That slight hesitation held off Laporte and cleared enough of the haze for Ronaldo to see Neto making a run beyond the full-back.

And without waiting any longer, Ronaldo lifted the ball over the Spanish defence into space for Neto to race onto.

The winger got to the ball right as Cucurella came across, but in the next instant, the Portuguese winger went down, and the whistle came immediately, and at that, every Spanish player stopped and turned, wondering what it could be, but then the referee pointed toward the penalty spot.

For half a second, the stadium seemed to need confirmation.

Then the Portuguese supporters erupted.

"Penalty!" Tyldesley's voice rose with them.

"Penalty... Portugal?" McCoist sounded less certain.

"He's given it."

Down the pitch, Cucurella was already approaching the referee.

"I didn't touch him like that."

"You came from behind."

"I won the ball, and I couldn't even touch him if I wanted him," he tried to say, but the referee pushed him away.

"Enough," he said right as Izan arrived.

"He can't go down from that."

The referee still pointed toward the spot as Cucurella shook his head.

"I barely touched him."

Izan grabbed his arm before the argument could continue.

"Come on."

"Cucurella...Leave it."

On the touchline, Luis De Lafuente looked visibly distraught and showed it towards the fourth official, but he soon walked away after realising that it was going nowhere!

Inside the box, Ronaldo helped Neto to his feet and gave the winger a pat on the back.

Then he walked toward the ball and picked it up as all around, the mood of the stadium changed.

Thousands of people were standing, watching on as Ronaldo placed the ball carefully on the spot while Unai Simón stood on his line opposing him.

He bounced once, then twice as Ronaldo stepped backwards.

"Portugal have been handed an enormous opportunity here."

"And you really don't want to give this man one."

"Ronaldo rarely misses these," Ally McCoist added on the broadcast as the referee cleared the penalty area.

Ronaldo waited, avoiding the keeper's gaze while Simón stared straight at him.

Eventually, the referee raised the whistle.

"Cristiano Ronaldo, steps up..." Clive Tyldesly muttered as the whistle sounded and without hesitation, Ronaldo moved.

His left foot planted beside the ball, and with his right foot, he struck through it with everything he had.

The crowd watched on as the shot climbed violently while Simón launched, but it was never a contest.

The ball smashed against the underside of the crossbar and flew into the top corner, and in the next instant, the AT&T Stadium exploded, and Ronaldo turned before the ball had even settled.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!"

"THERE IT IS!!" Tyldesley shouted over the roar.

"CRISTIANO RONALDO!" he said and could barely hear himself.

"HE'S DONE IT AGAIN!" he went on as the Portuguese players sprinted toward Ronaldo on the pitch.

The latter, on the other hand, kept running and then jumped the moment he reached the corner flag and then, before anything else;

"SSSSSIIIIIUUUUUUUUUUU," the crowd roared, as Ronaldo came down, his hands coming to their respective sides!

Fourteen minutes into the second half, he had restored Portugal's lead.

Portugal 2–1 Spain.