It is true that Ronaldo, at 33, is not the player he was. He is still perfectly sculpted, of course, a Men’s Health magazine cover made flesh, but the electric pace has fizzled a little; he does not cover quite as much ground (only one player, the Portuguese defender José Fonte, ran less than Ronaldo in a first half in which one of them scored twice). But it is equally true to say that Ronaldo, even in his twilight, shines brighter than almost any player with whom he comes into contact. He has not so much faded as a player as evolved into something different. It is misleading to suggest that he has transformed into a striker, a penalty- area predator, because he is not really restricted by such mortal concepts as geography. Instead, he has attained a level of such devastating efficiency that he now does not really require something so mundane as the ball. He does not need to be involved. He looks, often, like he is doing nothing, or something quite close to it — as if he is a mere passenger. It is an illusion. He is always in the cockpit. Isco, his Real Madrid teammate, was the dominant player on the field here, the one who was most involved, who prompted and probed and prodded, and he was wearing a Spain jersey. Ronaldo has moved beyond needing to dictate games. He concerns himself only with defining them. His free kick, needless to say, curled artfully, effortlessly, past De Gea and into the corner of Spain’s goal, as Ronaldo — despite all historical evidence to the contrary — must have known it would. Portugal, which is now best thought of as a nation established in 1128 so that it might one day produce Cristiano Ronaldo, would have its draw. More important, the 2018 World Cup had its spark. The afterglow of a game like this can last for a couple of weeks, at least; on this stage, it can resonate around the world.<doc-sep>ODD ANDERSEN/Getty Images Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick in Portugal's first 2018 FIFA World Cup match, a 3-3 draw against Iberian rivals Spain on Friday. Diego Costa also scored a brace. The Real Madrid man converted an early penalty, but Spain hit back through Costa. Ronaldo struck again just before half-time, courtesy of a blunder from David de Gea, but Costa and Nacho Fernandez―who gave away the early penalty―were on point after the break. A Spanish win seemed inevitable, but Ronaldo completed his hat-trick late with a wonderful free-kick. Here are the key takeaways from this match. Ronaldo Saves Portugal, But He'll Need More Help Ronaldo played one of his best-ever outings in his national shirt on Friday, and it went well beyond the three goals. The Real striker was a constant nuisance on the counter and even did his defensive duties for large stretches of the match, putting a lot of pressure on Nacho. It speaks to his considerable talent that Portugal were able to salvage a draw against a dominant Spanish side. Apart from a solid start and strong finish, the Portuguese were thoroughly outplayed by La Roja, and it's hard to point at another individual who actually put in a great performance. With an in-form Ronaldo, Portugal will always be a threat, but far more is needed from the rest of the team. It takes four wins in the knockout stages to win a world title, and the Selecao can't rely on their star man to bail them out every time. Video Play Button Videos you might like Portugal certainly have the talent, and if Joao Moutinho or Bernardo Silva can step up their level, there's no reason they can't win the whole thing. Hierro's Big Decisions Pay Off Fernando Hierro's first XI would always be closely scrutinised, as the former Real Madrid man had little time to assess his squad after replacing Julen Lopetegui on Wednesday. He opted to take few risks, playing Costa ahead of Iago Aspas at striker and putting Real's Nacho in at right-back. A natural centre-back, he was a bit of an odd fit, but as explained by AS' Robbie Dunne, he was seen as perhaps a safer option than Real Sociedad's Alvaro Odriozola: The much faster Odriozola would likely have done a better job keeping up with Ronaldo in the first half, and Nacho's supposed superior defensive ability was in serious doubt after he brought down his Los Blancos team-mate after just minutes, giving away a silly penalty. But if Hierro's choices seemed wrong after 15 minutes had been played, both Costa and Nacho turned things around. The former scored twice after a slow and sloppy start, and Nacho gave La Roja the lead with a thunderous strike after the break. Costa's ability to hold up play made all the difference against the reliable but static duo of Pepe and Jose Fonte, and Nacho's aerial ability served the Spaniards well on both sides of the pitch. For a caretaker manager who only got the job days ago, Hierro surely made some impressive decisions. De Gea Needs to Block Out Noise after Another Error Manchester United stopper De Gea may have the reputation of one of the best goalkeepers in the world, but a number of errors have crept into his game this season. He had high-profile blunders at the club level―his mistake against Sevilla comes to mind―but things have escalated since the end of the 2017-18 campaign. There was the mistake against Switzerland in a friendly on June 3, after which he had this to say, per Dunne: Unfortunately for the former Atletico Madrid man, he made another costly error on Friday, one that gifted Ronaldo his second goal. De Gea couldn't have picked a worse time to go into a slump, and he needs to bounce back quickly. The Spanish press was already on him after the Switzerland match, and things will only get worse after this. De Gea can't let that affect him, especially once the knockout stages begin. Pepe's Mental Error Fans will likely debate Costa's equaliser for a long time, and there's certainly an argument the goal should not have stood. Sports writer Karl Matchett did not think his shove on Pepe was a foul, but there were plenty who disagreed: It all could have been avoided if Pepe had played the situation a little smarter, however. The Besiktas man went down into a heap as soon as Costa made contact with him, but he got back up again a few seconds later, unable to help his team-mates as the striker struck. The whole point of the video assistant referee is that officials can go back to assess a situation―if Pepe had been fouled, he should have stayed on his feet, continued to defend and consult the official after the play was over. Instead, Pepe tried to milk the contact, and it cost him and his team. Guedes Is Not Ready Goncalo Guedes is a phenomenal talent who stood out in Portugal's final warm-up matches, but on Friday, he struggled tremendously against Spain's quality defenders. In the first half, the Paris Saint-Germain man ruined several promising counter-attacks with either poor touches or indecisiveness. Ronaldo, in particular, grew frustrated as the half wore on, and it was easy to see why―the 33-year-old did a sensational job creating space on counters, only to watch Guedes lose the ball. The 21-year-old's time will come, but perhaps it would be best to move him to the bench for now and use him as a high-energy substitute. What's Next? Both teams will be in action on Wednesday, with Portugal facing Morocco and Spain taking on table-toppers Iran.<doc-sep>
It was one of the most talked about matchups of the group stage. And we got one of the most entertaining World Cup matches in recent memory. In Group B, Spain and Portugal played out a wild six-goal thriller, with the teams drawing 3-3. Spain overcame a 2-1 deficit to take the lead in the second half before Cristiano Ronaldo completed his hat trick with a crazy late free-kick goal. Here's how it went down. Just four minutes into the game, Ronaldo tricked the referee into awarding a penalty kick on a non-foul from Nacho, and he put it away: Then 20 minutes later, Spain drew level with an absolutely wonderful goal from Diego Costa, who made some moves and found some space for a low rifle: Then again, 20 minutes later, it was Ronaldo again, who put a shot on frame that David De Gea could not handle, with the first major goalkeeper blunder of the World Cup: But again Spain had an answer. Ten minutes into the second half, it was Costa again, finishing off a beautifully-executed set piece in front of goal: Then, another quick punch. As Spain was dominating, it got another goal from Nacho who produced a delicious hit into the corner off the post three minutes later: But the last laugh would go to Ronaldo. Becoming the oldest player to score a hat trick in World Cup history, the 33-year-old got the equalizer in the 87th minute with an out-of-this-world free kick that left De Gea frozen: The soccer gods smile down upon us, my friends. What a wild 90 minutes. And, I can't believe as I'm writing this, but Iran is in first place in Group B with three points. What a world. And so far, what a World Cup. Relive Spain vs. Portugal If your live blog doesn't load properly, click here