if you can\u2019t see it, tap here<\/a>!<\/p>\nPANAMA ELIMINATED FROM WORLD CUP<\/p>\n
Panama were eliminated from World Cup contention after Croatia kept their hopes of progressing to the last 32 alive with a hard-fought 1-0 win on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Croatia, who made it to the last four of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, were looking to bounce back after their opening Group L match, a 4-2 defeat to England in Dallas. <\/p>\n
In the end, Ante Budimir\u2019s 54th minute goal proved enough to see off the spirited Central Americans.<\/p>\n
Croatia\u2019s most celebrated player, Luka Modric, was making his 200th international appearance, but his early headed effort on goal sailed over the bar. <\/p>\n
Under Danish-born coach Thomas Christiansen, Panama have implemented a tight defensive structure that helped them secure their second-ever World Cup appearance. <\/p>\n
But it was the Panamanian offence that almost made the difference in the first half.<\/p>\n
In the 23rd minute Jose Luis Rodriguez guided a header towards goal but the outstretched fingertips of Croatian \u2018keeper Dominik Livakovic redirected the ball off the bar. <\/p>\n
The second half marked a clear momentum shift and the capacity crowd of 43,000 in Toronto with a strong Croatian majority erupted when Budimir tapped in a cross from Josip Stanisic. <\/p>\n
Croatia should have been two up minutes later, when a perfectly weighted pass from Modric sent Marco Pasalic alone speeding towards goal. <\/p>\n
Jose Cordoba of Panama. Photo by Megan Briggs\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Pasalic\u2019s first effort was stopped by keeper Orlando Mosquera and although the rebound came back to him he blasted an off-balance second attempt well over the bar. <\/p>\n
Panama kept pressing for the equaliser but they ultimately failed to find the net, extending their World Cup goalless streak. <\/p>\n
They face England in what will be their final match of the tournament on Friday. Croatia have three points and will face Ghana, who moved onto four points after holding England to a goalless draw earlier, for a place in the final 32.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019M BACK\u2019: RONALDO CREATES WORLD CUP HISTORY<\/p>\n
Cristiano Ronaldo declared \u201cI\u2019m back\u201d and said those \u201cattacking\u201d him should never write him off after making World Cup history in a 5-0 hammeringof Uzbekistan on Wednesday in Houston. <\/p>\n
The big win in Houston put Portugal on the brink of the knockout rounds and was a resounding response to the 41-year-old\u2019s doubters. <\/p>\n
Ronaldo\u2019s goal after six minutes made history – trumping even Lionel Messi – by scoring at six World Cups stretching back to 2006. <\/p>\n
The former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus ace pulled out his trademark \u2018Siu\u2019 celebration and let out a throaty roar in front of 68,777 fans. <\/p>\n
After Nuno Mendes made it 2-0, Ronaldo neatly got his second with a cool finish six minutes before the break. <\/p>\n
That took him to 10 World Cup goals, more than any other Portuguese player including the great Eusebio.<\/p>\n
The five-star display was in stark contrast to a stale 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo in which Ronaldo was laboured and largely anonymous. <\/p>\n
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo. AP Photo\/Ashley LandisSource: AP<\/p>\n
That sparked renewed calls in some quarters for Martinez to drop the veteran captain, with Ronaldo, the coach and the team all facing flak at home. <\/p>\n
Ronaldo shouted into a television camera \u201cI\u2019m back, I\u2019m back\u201d, and said after his two-goal display: \u201cI can say it was a very tough week, a difficult week, a week in which public opinion was very harsh on us, on all the players, especially on the coach. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s always like that, it\u2019s fine because when you think about it, it\u2019s already 23 years I\u2019ve been a professional and whenever things don\u2019t go well it\u2019s, \u2018Cristiano, he\u2019s finished, he\u2019s old\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut well, it was a good response from me and my teammates, which is what we wanted.\u201d Ronaldo, the leading scorer in men\u2019s international history with 145 goals, has been compared unfavourably with the likes of nemesis Lionel Messi and other star forwards such as Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane so far at the World Cup. <\/p>\n
Portugal’s forward #07 Cristiano Ronaldo (L) celebrates with Portugal’s Spanish head coach Roberto MartinezSource: AFP<\/p>\n
Put to him that he had now joined the party in North America, Ronaldo said: \u201cI always arrive, even if it\u2019s later, but I\u2019m there. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it\u2019s about continuing my work, I truly believe in what I do. \u201cMy career has always been like this, it wasn\u2019t going tochange.\u201d He told Martinez and his teammates, who are on the cusp of the last 32, to ignore the outside criticism. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we know that when we don\u2019t play well or don\u2019t win we\u2019re always attacked, especially me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as I said before, I\u2019m already used to it and I carry on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ronaldo did however, bristle at a question comparing him to Messi and Mbappe prompting him to dismiss the reporter \u201cnext question\u201d<\/p>\n
– \u2018He\u2019s a human being\u2019 –<\/p>\n
The Spaniard Martinez, who has defiantly stuck with Ronaldo no matter what, said he understood the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star\u2019s reaction at the end of the game. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a human being. I think he\u2019s allowed to have emotions, he\u2019s allowed to have feelings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Martinez said Ronaldo\u2019s dedication, drive and hard work was how he had extended his career into middle age. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never worked with a player that has got that capacity — that whatever happens today, tomorrow is going to be the hungriestplayer to improve,\u201d he said of Ronaldo, who now plays in Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n
Uzbekistan\u2019s coach Fabio Cannavaro, a former defender who lifted the World Cup for Italy in 2006, called Ronaldo \u201cone of the strongest players in the history of football\u201d. <\/p>\n
He said: \u201cAs a defender, you need to be very smart to be close to him, because if you give one centimetre in the box, youare dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Portugal\u2019s final group match is on Saturday against Colombia, who beat the Uzbeks 3-1.<\/p>\n
Colombia meet DR Congo later Tuesday in Group K knowing a win will propel them into the last 32.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matchday 13 of the FIFA World Cup is underway, with England failing to score in a 0-0 draw…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":756430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-756429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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