Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty kick as Portugal thrashed the All Whites of New Zealand 4-0 to reach the Confederations Cup semifinals as Group A winners. Elsewhere, in the group, hosts Russia were dumped out of the tournament after a 2-1 loss to Mexico. Russia needed a win to progress into the semi-final but despite taking the early lead, they eventually blew it in front of their own raucous home crowd. Here's a quick summary of last Saturday's Group A final matches and how they actually went down:
New Zealand 0, Portugal 4
Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was the one to break the deadlock after thirty-three minutes of play, clinically converting a penalty kick past New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic to put Portugal ahead.
The goal was Ronaldo's 75th international goal for Portugal. Manchester City bound Bernardo Silva added to the lead before halftime with a fine finish effort after a rapid play from the left wing. The Portuguese continued to pile up the pressures on New Zealand's half. Later in the eightieth minute, Andre Silva increased the tally to 3-0 with a brilliant solo effort from close range before Nani capped the victory for Portugal.
With this result, New Zealand finished bottom after a third consecutive loss, while Portugal ensured top spot in Group A and we now face Chile in the semis on Wednesday.
Mexico 2, Russia 1
Mexico created the first attempt of the encounter after six minutes. Hirving Lozano expertly went past two Russia defenders and slammed a low shot from close range but the shot was “neutralized” by Russia goalie Igor Akinfeev.
However, Russia was strong early in the first half creating several goal-bound chances and eventually found the breakthrough after twenty-five minutes thanks to an Aleksandr Samedov's fine finish that beat Mexico goalie Guillermo Ochoa. However, the lead was short-lived with Mexico rapidly equalizing through a Nestor Araujo fine header.
The center defender brilliantly directed the header past Russia goalie Igor Akinfeev to level up the scoreline.
Later in the fifty-second minute, the Mexicans went ahead following a horrific stumble by Russia goalie. Igor Akinfeev completely misjudged a long thrust from Hector Herrera allowing witty forward Hirving Lozano to calmly head the ball into the back of the net from close range.
Afterward, the hosts were reduced to 10-men when defender Yuri Zhirkov apparently brought down Miguel Layun close to the penalty area and was issued a second yellow card. However, Russia continued to create some promising goal threat chances but failed to produce a come-back as Mexico held on to the lead and the match ended 2-1 at full-time.
With this result, Mexico progresses to the semifinals alongside Portugal, who finished as Group A winners and will now look set to take on Germany on Thursday, while Russia crashed out of the Confederations Cup.
