ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 Using a rivalry analogy North Texans might better understand, what occurred here Monday was this World Cup\u2019s Texas-OU clash.<\/p>\n
Except these soccer combatants and bordering countries, No. 3 in the world Spain and No. 7 Portugal, were playing 4,800 miles from home, in a neutral-site venue called Dallas Stadium.<\/p>\n
What a sellout crowd of 70,649 saw was Spain\u2019s Mikel Merino score the game\u2019s only goal in the 90th minute \u2014 and history, as Portugal\u2019s iconic Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, walked off a World Cup pitch for the final time.<\/p>\n
While Spain moves on to the quarterfinals, one win from a return to Dallas Stadium for the July 14 semifinal, history will show that Ronaldo\u2019s last World Cup practice occurred Sunday at SMU Washburne Soccer Stadium and that the last of his 233 matches for Portugal was played in Arlington.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave it my all,\u201d Ronaldo said. \u201cAs a footballer, I\u2019m now at a point where I want to focus on my family rather than the national team.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I\u2019m leaving with peace of mind, knowing I gave my best, and that\u2019s that. Tomorrow is a new day, and life goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n
His sixth and last World Cup ended with the final whistle at 4:01 p.m. Central. He lingered on the pitch for nearly 25 minutes, visibly emotional, at times fighting back tears. He then exited the stadium tunnel with his head bowed.<\/p>\n
How fortunate was North Texas to have hosted this matchup? This was the tournament\u2019s 93rd game, and it pitted the lowest seeds to date, supplanting Sunday night\u2019s thriller in Mexico City, in which No. 4 England edged No. 10 Mexico 3-2.<\/p>\n
This was the eighth of a World Cup-high nine matches that will be played in AT&T Stadium, which for the monthlong duration of this tournament is being called Dallas Stadium.<\/p>\n
Of the previous seven matches here, six were between teams whose countries were at least 3,800 miles apart. The exception was the June 17 group stage game between England and Croatia, which are separated by about 900 miles.<\/p>\n
Spain and Portugal are next-door neighbors on the Iberian Peninsula, separate sovereign nations since the Feb. 13, 1668, signing of the Treaty of Lisbon.<\/p>\n
And of course both countries are crazy about soccer, as evidenced by Monday\u2019s at times deafening sellout crowd and the multitudes in Spain and Portugal who anxiously watched every second.<\/p>\n
This was the seventh time they have met in World Cup play, following 1934 (Spain won both meetings), 1950 (Spain won in qualifying and the teams tied the other match), 2010 (Spain won 1-0 in the round of 16) and 2018\u2019s group stage.<\/p>\n
In that last meeting, the teams tied 3-3, with Ronaldo pulling off a hat trick.<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked up to him,\u201d said Spain\u2019s Rodri, who was selected as most valuable player Monday. \u201cHe is a fellow professional. He always wanted to be the best. I think it\u2019s incredible, an example for all the generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s game was billed as a handing off of the torch \u2014 from Ronaldo to young Spanish star Lamine Yamal, who turns 19 on July 13.<\/p>\n
While Spain moves on in this World Cup, Yamal is viewed as a star for multiple World Cups to come \u2014 including 2030, when Spain, Portugal and Morocco will serve as tri-hosts.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompletely different players,\u201d Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said when asked to compare Ronaldo and Yamal. \u201cI think you\u2019re talking about a very, very young player who shows he\u2019s capable of carrying the pressure of the whole team and make things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Ronaldo?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re talking about an iconic figure of the game itself,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cThe longevity that he has, it speaks for itself. Complete different positions, I think they can share that they got that capacity to affect the moments that they win games, but they are completely, completely in different moments of their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ronaldo finishes his Portugal national team career with 146 goals in 233 appearances in 23 years \u2014 that includes three goals in five games of this World Cup.<\/p>\n
His goal against Croatia was the first he has recorded in a knockout game, and it made him the oldest player to record a knockout-stage goal.<\/p>\n
After Sunday\u2019s practice at SMU, Ronaldo went to AT&T Stadium, where he held his first news conference of this World Cup. He was in a reflective mood but also had some playful banter with reporters, some of whom have been tough on him through the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you\u2019ve been trying to kill me for the past 23 years,\u201d he joked. \u201cBut you must have seen that this is not worthwhile. It\u2019s a waste of time. You try and try and try and try and try, and it\u2019s not worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two-time World Cup champion Spain entered Monday\u2019s match as the favorite, a fact Ronaldo seemed to acknowledge as he considered the possibility that Monday might be his finale.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be honest. Whatever happens tomorrow, Cristiano will leave with a clear conscience,\u201d he said. \u201cNot 100%, but 1000%. Because I\u2019ve given everything in football. I don\u2019t need it, I have a good life, but it\u2019s about passion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI play football because I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monday, he walked off the pitch for the last time for Portugal. He never won a World Cup, but did lead Portugal to the 2016 European championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, that holds the same weight as a World Cup,\u201d he said. \u201cHonestly \u2014 that\u2019s why I say this again \u2014 I\u2019m leaving with peace of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 Using a rivalry analogy North Texans might better understand, what occurred here Monday was this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":["post-364142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}