Portugal battled into the last 16 of the World Cup with a drama-filled 2-1 victory over Croatia on Thursday to set up a titanic showdown with European champions Spain.
In another nerve-shredding World Cup classic, Goncalo Ramos headed Portugal into the lead in the fourth minute of stoppage time before Croatia saw a last-gasp equaliser agonisingly ruled out for offside in Toronto.
Portugal’s 41-year-old superstar captain Cristiano Ronaldo had helped haul his team back into the contest, burying a 68th-minute penalty to cancel out Croatia’s 53rd-minute opener from Ivan Perisic.
Ronaldo later joined frenzied celebrations after Ramos glanced home a sensational header deep into injury time to give Portugal the lead.
But Ronaldo and his Portugal team-mates were left stunned when Josko Gvardiol prodded home an apparent equaliser in stoppage time.
Yet there was one final twist when the goal was chalked off for offside after a lengthy VAR review to the disbelief of Croatia’s players and their large contingent of fans at Toronto’s BMO Field.
After the final whistle, an emotional Ronaldo held up and pulled on a Portugal shirt bearing the number 21, a tribute to late team-mate Diogo Jota, the Liverpool star who tragically died in a car crash almost a year to the day from Thursday’s win, on July 3 last year.
“We knew it before the game. It was a so special moment. We speak today, our group, about that, the coincidence of life, it’s unbelievable,” Ronaldo said afterwards of the tribute to Jota.
“I was amazed because the situation of today. It means a lot to us, not only because we won the game, but the also the way we won the game. It was a difficult game, we knew it.”
The result ensures that Ronaldo’s incredible World Cup career will be extended for at least one more match when the Portuguese face Iberian rivals Spain in the last 16 in Dallas on Monday.
Ronaldo’s second-half penalty made him the oldest man to score in a World Cup knockout match.
