SOCHI: Edinson Cavani scored twice as Uruguay shattered Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup dream with a 2-1 victory over Portugal here Saturday.
Paris Saint-Germain striker Cavani curled home a superb 62nd-minute winner to settle a thrilling second round duel in Sochi which sends Uruguay into a quarter-final against France next Friday.
Cavani had already put Uruguay in front early on, only for Pepe to head Portugal level in the 55th minute in a thrilling contest that was not the battle of attrition many predicted.
Pepe’s goal was the first time the South Americans’ defense had been breached in this tournament, but they stood firm after that and are beginning to look like genuine contenders moving into the latter stages in Russia.
The only downside for Oscar Tabarez’s side was the sight of Cavani limping off late on, raising a question mark over his fitness for next week’s last eight showdown with the French in Nizhny Novgorod.
Meanwhile, European champions Portugal go home, as Ronaldo and Lionel Messi bow out of the competition on the same day.
In contrast, Uruguay march on with arguably the best defense in international football and one of the best strike pairings anywhere.
Suarez and Cavani combined brilliantly for the seventh-minute opener on Russia’s Black Sea coast.
Cavani picked out Suarez on the left with a cross-field ball, before continuing his run into the penalty area and meeting the Barcelona striker’s return delivery at the back post, the ball smacking off his face and flying in.
Suarez almost doubled the lead from a free-kick midway through the first half that forced a good save from Rui Patricio.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo did not touch the ball once in the opposition area in the first period. But with Uruguay sitting back, Portugal did equalize 10 minutes into the second half.
A corner was played short to Raphael Guerreiro, and his cross from the left was headed home from close range by Pepe, rising high above Diego Godin in the area.
After nearly five and a half hours of football, it was the first goal Uruguay had let in at this World Cup — indeed it was the first they had conceded in 2018.
But their response to that was magnificent as they went quickly retook the lead, Rodrigo Bentancur teeing up Cavani for a magnificent first-time curling strike into the far corner on his right foot.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos threw up his hands in disgust, realizing that coming from behind a second time against this Uruguay defense was going to be a tall order.
Goalkeeper Fernando Muslera did almost gift them another equalizer, dropping a high ball at the feet of Bernardo Silva, but the Manchester City man could only volley over.
Cavani then had to be helped off by Ronaldo before watching the rest of the game from the dugout with ice on a calf injury.
His side held out, and if he recovers, Cavani can now look forward to coming up against his Paris Saint-Germain strike partner Kylian Mbappe, so impressive for France against Argentina.
But Mbappe is unlikely to find the Uruguayan defense so accommodating.
Edinson Cavani fires Uruguay into last eight as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo dream ends
Edinson Cavani fires Uruguay into last eight as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo dream ends
Hosts Morocco cruise, South Africa advance into Cup of Nations last 16
- Olympiakos striker El Kaabi nodded in an early opener and scored an overhead kick shortly after halftime, with both of his goals set up by the outstanding Azzedine Ounahi
- Mali go through in second place after a 0-0 draw with Comoros in Casablanca
- Egypt, who rested stars like captain Salah with first place already assured, topped Group B with seven points after their draw against Angola in Agadir
RABAT: Ayoub El Kaabi’s brace helped Morocco to a 3-0 win over Zambia on Monday as the Africa Cup of Nations hosts cruised into the last 16 while South Africa beat Zimbabwe 3-2 to also secure a berth in the knockout phase.
African player of the year Achraf Hakimi made his comeback from almost two months out injured for Morocco as Mali also qualified for the next round and Mohamed Salah was rested for Egypt’s 0-0 draw against Angola.
Morocco are the tournament favorites as the host nation and Africa’s top-ranked team but they were booed off by supporters following a 1-1 draw against Mali in their last outing.
Nevertheless, Walid Regragui’s team knew a win against Zambia at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in capital Rabat would guarantee their progress to the next round in first place in Group A and they outclassed their opponents.
Olympiakos striker El Kaabi nodded in an early opener and scored an overhead kick shortly after halftime, with both of his goals set up by the outstanding Azzedine Ounahi.
In between, Real Madrid attacking midfielder Brahim Diaz swept home Morocco’s second goal on 27 minutes at the end of a fine team move, again involving Ounahi.
Diaz has found the net in all three of Morocco’s games so far and he and El Kaabi join Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez on three goals at the top of the Cup of Nations scoring charts.
Captain Hakimi came off the bench in the 64th minute for his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury in action for Paris Saint-Germain at the beginning of November.
Morocco will stay in Rabat for a last-16 tie in the same stadium on Sunday against one of the best third-place finishers.
“Scoring early on changes everything,” said Regragui. “We need to continue like this but not get carried away and keep our feet on the ground.”
Zambia go out and have now failed to win any of their 12 AFCON matches across four tournament appearances since lifting the trophy in 2012.
Mali go through in second place after a 0-0 draw with Comoros in Casablanca, a game they ended with 10 men after Amadou Haidara was sent off.
It was a third stalemate in as many matches for the Eagles, who will remain in Morocco’s largest city for a last-16 tie on Saturday.
Salah rested by Egypt
Earlier, Oswin Appollis converted a late penalty to give South Africa victory against Zimbabwe in Marrakech as Bafana Bafana qualified for the knockout stage.
Rising star Tshepang Moremi gave South Africa an early lead with a deflected effort.
However, falling behind motivated Zimbabwe and they deservedly levelled on 19 minutes thanks to the individual brilliance of Tawanda Maswanhise from Scottish Premiership club Motherwell.
Maswanhise gained possession inside the South African half, dribbled past two opponents and fired the ball wide of goalkeeper Ronwen Williams into the far corner.
South Africa began the second period aggressively and regained the lead on 50 minutes through Burnley striker Lyle Foster, for whom it was a second goal of the tournament.
Zimbabwe brought it back to 2-2 on 73 minutes when Aubrey Modiba conceded an own goal, but Appollis then netted from an 82nd-minute penalty to give Bafana the lead for the third time, which they retained.
“Once again we fell asleep after a good start. We continuously lost possession,” said 73-year-old South Africa coach Hugo Broos.
“Our passing was bad at times and we should have concentrated on retaining possession in the closing minutes instead of seeking a fourth goal. We have to work on controlling games.”
Egypt, who rested stars like captain Salah with first place already assured, topped Group B with seven points after their draw against Angola in Agadir. South Africa finished with six points, Angola two and Zimbabwe one.
The last round of group games continues on Tuesday, with Tanzania playing Tunisia and Nigeria facing Uganda in Group C. Senegal take on Benin and the Democratic Republic of Congo play Botswana in Group D.
