The world player of the year fails to send Portugal to the knockout round

Portugal vs Ghana match report World Cup
2014:

Cristiano Ronaldo fails to make most of
chaos in Ghana camp
Portugal 2 Ghana 1
Cristiano Ronaldo looks on in downbeat
fashion
By EWAN MACKENNA
Thursday 26 June 2014
The madness ends here then, and by the
finish it all made perfect sense. An own goal
from John Boye and an awful clanger from
goalkeeper Fatawu Dauda sent Ghana out of
the tournament but you knew from before
kick-off that if anyone was going to beat
them, it was themselves.
After boycotting training in Brasilia on
Tuesday over the non-payment of appearance
fees, they announced at a Wednesday press
conference that the nation’s president had
ordered a plane to be loaded with $3m in cash
and flown straight to them.
The questions and answers thereafter ranged
from talk of mercenaries to the trouble with
African bank accounts while winger Christian
Atsu broke down laughing when talking about
how he was going to stuff the notes into a bag
for safety. It was pointed out that their main
base at this tournament is in the most
dangerous city in Brazil but by yesterday
morning Boye himself was seen on local
television at the team hotel jumping about
and kissing wads of money.
It was so bizarre and shambolic it even
overshadowed the fact that Kevin-Prince
Boateng was sent home for “vulgar verbal
insults” directed at coach Kwesi Appiah while
sources say Sulley Muntari’s removal from the
squad was after he slapped a Football
Association member during a meeting that got
way out of control. Little wonder then that for
an hour of this defeat it was clear from their
play that most of them did not want to be
here, but it was also evident throughout that
Portugal simply are not good enough.
Ghana started like a team whose heads were
already on holidays and whose bodies would
soon be following, even if Harrison Afful was
giving width and Asamoah Gyan was
providing power.

 But it was Cristiano Ronaldo
who was most dangerous in those opening
stages. He looked more menacing in that spell
than he has across a tournament where even
he could not carry both his knee injury issues
and his team. On 11 minutes he had a free-
kick batted away, on 18 minutes he got on the
end of a Ruben Amorim cross but was again
denied. And that would become the story of
his game.
At least his side did take the lead just after
the half hour mark. Miguel Veloso’s cross
looked too shallow but at the near post it
bounced in front of Boye, came off his knee
and flew in off the underside of the crossbar.
The defender had been at fault for both goals
in the game against the United States and
nearly had a second own goal here too. But
for long spells he looked as likely to score as
Portugal, who never truly believed they could
claw back the goal difference on the United
States to take second spot in the group and
head to the second round.
On that count, the blame can be shared
around. Nani was again anonymous here,
Eder was playing too deep for a striker, while
Joao Moutinho was once more a major
disappointment. Coming into this tournament,
there were comparisons with Xavi but in
exiting he had as much of an influence on it
as his Spanish counterpart. The defence never
looked assured either when Ghana moved the
ball down the flanks and such a move led to
the equaliser just shy of the hour mark.
Kwadwo Asamoah provided the most
audacious of crosses with the outside of the
boot and a Gyan header saw him become the
top-scoring African in World Cup history. For
a few minutes it was like a switch had been
flicked as news came through that Germany
were ahead and one more goal would see
Ghana advance.
Majeed Waris had a great opportunity from six
yards out, Asamoah shot wide and the side
came to life with the sort of pace and power
that had seen them dominate against the
Americans and hustle the Germans until the
very end. It briefly made you think they were
too good to go out at this stage, but just as
they’d awoken, they again slept. From there
on in it was just tension rather than quality as
both sides were swimming against the tide.
And even that tension was taken away 10
minutes from time as Ronaldo netted the
winner. A deflected cross looped high into
the air, Dauda inexplicably chose to flap at
the ball rather than catch it cleanly, and his
parry dropped straight to Ronaldo for an easy
finish. To be fair, the World Player of the Year
had other chances in those closing stages but
could not convert. It summed up his World
Cup and Portugal’s. Down, and now out.