Mexico and Portugal were the favourites to advance out of Group A at the Confederations Cup and they both delivered. Neither team could clinch a spot in the semifinals after two matchdays, leaving them in need of results yesterday, but they both got the job done.
For Mexico, it was a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Russia. Meanwhile, Portugal cruised to a 4-0 win. That puts Portugal on top of Group A and Mexico in second, both through and 180 minutes from winning the tournament.
Ronaldo scored his 75th international goal when he buried the penalty that put Portugal inf ront of New Zealand early on. And while the round number is nice, it’s more notable for putting him second on the list of all-time international goals by a European.
Portugal went into the match knowing that victory would be enough to secure their place in the last four of the competition, while New Zealand were playing for pride after losing to both Mexico and Russia.
However, it was the minnows who created the first clear-cut opportunity of the match with Leeds United forward Chris Wood forcing a decent save out of Rui Patricio, who got down well to his left.
Slowly but surely, Portugal began to gain control of the contest but it took until the 24th minute for Ronaldo to force a stop out of Stefan Marinovic with a header at the near post.
With 12 minutes of the half remaining, however, Ronaldo gave Portugal the lead from the penalty spot after a foul by New Zealand’s Thomas Doyle gave him the chance to net from 12 yards.
It did not take long for the European champions to double their advantage through Bernando Silva, who confidently found the back of the net after receiving a pass inside the penalty box.