The meeting resumed at the same pace after returning from the locker room. But one event changed everything. Served in the area, Cristiano Ronaldo collapsed after contact with Salisu. The referee did not hesitate and immediately pointed to the small white dot. ‘CR7′ did not shiver and the sentence was converted into action (1-0, 65’). Then everything went off after this little stroke of vice. The Ghanaians drove on and forced a response, finally dropping themselves towards the opposite deck. After a powerful first strike from Kodos (72 minutes), the Black Stars equalized thanks to a revolutionary goal from the surfaces of Andre Ayew, after another acceleration from Kodos and a failed tackle from Danilo Pereira (1-1, 73), the most active Ghanaian player on Thursday.
In the aftermath, Portugal re-boarded. It was the sight of Bruno Fernandes – behind two caviar hits by João Félix (2-1, 78) and then entrant Rafael Leao (3-1, 80) – that made the difference.
With a two-goal lead, Portugal’s success seemed, for the moment, inevitable. Fernando Santos, the Portuguese coach, also took the opportunity to rotate his workforce, notably by letting Cristiano Ronaldo go. This is the moment when Ghana chooses to respond (again) and close the gap. Ousmane Boukari entered a few minutes earlier, then headed in a wonderful cross from Baba Rahman and beat a weak Diogo Costa (3-2, 89).
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