By Michael Effiong
Real Madrid Star, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick to rescue a point for the Portugal National Team which battled hard against Spain in their Russia Wold Cup 2018 opening cracker.
The famous number 7 opened scores in the highly-entertaining match. He was brought down by Real Madrid team mate, Nacho for a penalty that he slotted home with panache.
The Spanish team got back with an equalizer by Diego Costa, who muscled off Pepe, and shrugged off the Portuguese defence to score.
It was Ronaldo again that got the Portuguese back on top when he gambled with a shot that was fumbled by in-form Manchester United goalie, David De Gea. It was Diego again when a well-taken free kick caused a melee at the 18 yard box of the Portuguese and Costa slotted in from close range.
Nacho moved from villain to hero when a good strike from the edge of the box hit the goal post and sneaked for a Spain 3-2 lead,
The Spanish were firmly in control of the game until a rare foray upfront led to an infringement by Pique. Ronaldo placed the ball, took his usual steps and curled the back past the wall, left De Gea stranded and the ball hit the back of the net. And the stadium roared.
It was indeed a very good exhibition of football
