Ronaldo bows out as Cavani's brace take Uruguay into quarter-finals

Messi and Ronaldo bow out of Fifa World Cup 2018 on the same day as Edison Cavani scores two goals to take the South American giants into the quarterfinals, eliminating Portugal

Edinson Cavani scored twice as Uruguay shattered Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup dream with a 2-1 victory over Portugal here.

Paris Saint-Germain striker Cavani curled home a superb 62nd-minute winner to settle a thrilling second round duel in Sochi, sending Uruguay into the quarter-final clash against France next Friday.

Cavani had already given Uruguay an early lead but it was cancelled out in the 55th minute by Pepe's free-header goal. Pepe's goal was the first time the South Americans' defence had been breached in this tournament, but they stood firm after that showing signs of a defence that can help the team go deep into the latter stages at Russia.

The only downside for Oscar Tabarez's side was the sight of Cavani limping off late on. While Ronaldo earned praise accross the social media for helping Cavani get off the field, the injury raises a question mark over his fitness for next week's last eight showdown against 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 defence 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 see much of the ball in the opposition area during the firsthalf play. But with Uruguay sitting back, Portugal did equalise 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, realising that coming from behind a second time against this Uruguay defence was going to be a mountainuos task.

Goalkeeper Fernando Muslera did almost gift them another equaliser, dropping a high ball at the feet of Bernardo Silva, but the Manchester City man volleyed it over.

Cavani limped off the field on the 74th minute and watched the rest of the game from the dugout with ice packs on his calf. His side managed to held out the lead, Cavani now look forward to coming up against his Paris Saint-Germain strike partner Kylian Mbappe.
 

Here are the live updates:

Final Whistle!!! Cristiano Ronaldo joins Lionel Messi on the road home.

Min 90+4': Portugal launch the last wave of attack with Rui Patricio also joining the attack. 

Min 90+2': Another miss by Portugal. We are real close to see 

Min 90: Ronaldo takes a shot towards the goal but the effort saies wide off! 4 minutes of added time.

Min 85:  Portugal make their final change by introducing Manuel Fernandes for Joao Mario. Fernandes takes a shot to the goal with his first touch on the ball. The ball ends up in the safe hands of Muslera.

Min 82: Although Portugal is seeing more ball, they need a hero in order to save them from the looming exit. Ronaldo has been really off-colour tonight, producing only a chance or two.

Min 81: C. Sanchez (in) comes off the bench to replace N. Nandez (out) (Uruguay)

Min 74: C. Stuani (in) comes off the bench to replace E. Cavani (out) (Uruguay)

Min 74: Andre Silva (in) comes off the bench to replace G. Guedes (out) (Portugal)

Min 71: Ronaldo helps Cavani to get off the pitch, with the brace-scorer limping off the field, asking for a replacement.

Min 70: A golden opportunity as Muslera fumbles the ball and it finds it's way to Bernardo Silva on the edge of the area, who slashes a shot over the bar.Total waste!

Min 69: Ronaldo is yet to get involved in today's match!

Min 65: Quaresma (in) comes off the bench to replace Adrien (out) (Portugal)

Min 63: C. Rodriguez (in) comes off the bench to replace R. Bentancur (out) (Uruguay)

Min 62: Cavani extends the lead with a stunner! A pass from Bentacur saw Cavani  curl the shot beautifully into the back of the net!

Min 55: GOAL!!! Guerreiro takes the resulting corner and an unmarked Pepe heads home with ease. Portugal equalise! 

Min 54: A real moment of panic in the Uruguay defence as the ball cannons around the box before getting deflected to a corner.

Uruguay get the second half underway. There have been no half-time changes. 

Halftime report:  Uruguay head into the halftime with a goal lead against Portugal in the second knockout game of Fifa World Cup 2018. Cavani's 7-minute header is the only difference in a game played out evenly by the two sides. The attacking pair of Cavani and Suarez played a few great one-twos among them in a game where Portugal's Guerreiro and Bernando Silva have looked more dangerous than their Five-time Ballon d'Or winning captain.

Although, Portugal control maximum ball possession of 60 per cent, Uruguay have looked more promising with their attacks, thanks to an in-form Suarez and Cavani.

The winner of this match will play a quarter-final against France, who just saw off Argentina in a seven-goal thriller.

45+2: Cavani gets another chance but side nets the opportunity. Halftime is underway.

Min 45: Two additional minutes of play in this first half.

Min 38: The Uruguay defence led by Godin looks rock solid as Portugal search for openings.

Min 31: Guedes is bundled over to the left side of the D-box by Bentancur. Ronaldo gets a dangerous free-kick on the edge of the box, hits it on the wall. The Real Madrid player has been off-colour in the first-half, till now.

Min 28: The play is getting slightly physical with both the sides frustrating each-other with some rash challenges. A slight lull in the gameplay, so the crowd entertain themselves with some Icelandic thunderclaps.

Min 22: Suarez runs towards the Portugal box, and is fouled by Pepe. That’s a free kick in a very dangerous position, just outside the area. Suarez gets up, takes another low shot but Rui Patricio makes a fantastic save

Min 15: Portugal is not demotivated after Cavani's opener as Ronaldo & Co look for an equaliser.

Min 7: GOAL!!! Edison Cavani scores for Uruguay! Cavani, out deep on the right, launches a crossfield pass for Suarez on the left. Suarez cuts inside and puts in a high cross to the far post, where the onrushing Cavani smashes a header into the top right! Uruguay 1-Portugal 0

Min 3: It will take some time for teams to settle. Uruguay has the corner.

Min 1: Portugal gets the game underway. They have few moments of posessiona and lose it immediately. 

And here we goooooooo

Players are out of the tunnel and national anthems are being played. 

Line-ups out: Uruguay make one change to their side that won against Russia. They replace Sebastian Coates with Atletico Madrid's central defender Jose Gimenez

Portugal make three changes in their starting XI which scraped past Iran in the final match of Group B. Ricardo Pereira of Porto, Valencia striker Goncalo Guedes and Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva replace Southampton’s Cedric Soares, Besiktas attacker Ricardo Quaresma and Andre Silva of Milan.

Uruguay's starting XI: Muslera, Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Laxalt, Nandez, Torreira, Vecino, Bentancur, Suarez, Cavani.

Subs: Campana, Varela, Sanchez, Rodriguez, De Arrascaeta, Stuani, Gaston Silva, Maxi Pereira, Gomez, Coates, Urreta, Martin Silva.

Portugal's starting XI: Rui Patricio, Ricardo Pereira, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro, Bernardo Silva, William Carvalho, Adrien Silva, Joao Mario, Goncalo Guedes, Ronaldo.

Subs: Lopes, Bruno Alves, Fernandes, Joao Moutinho, Andre Silva, Dias, Bruno Fernandes, Gelson Martins, Mario Rui, Quaresma, Cedric, Beto.

Referee: Cesar Arturo Ramos Palazuelos (Mexico).
 

Uruguay vs Portugal line-up

Match Preview: It will be a fascinating battle with Ronaldo, at 33, enjoying his best World Cup but Uruguay the only side to come through the group stage in Russia without conceding a goal. Godin is an expert at keeping clean sheets, as the leader of an Atletico defence that is the most formidable in the European club game -- they kept 34 in all competitions last season -- and of an Uruguay side that has not conceded a goal in 2018 in six games.

Ronaldo, though, has already scored four times at this World Cup, including a hat-trick on his last visit here when Portugal drew 3-3 with Spain. That means he has 85 international goals, more than any other male European player in history.

In the last two years, he has scored two hat-tricks for Real against Godin's Atletico, having also emerged victorious in two Madrid derby Champions League finals.

But the rugged and brave Godin, who needed reconstructive dental surgery after having three teeth punched out in an aerial challenge with Valencia's goalkeeper earlier this year, has succeeded in muzzling Ronaldo on plenty other occasions at club level going back almost a decade.

"Godin is a star. He defends, commands, scores goals, wins titles, and does not miss a game," said Diego Maradona recently.

Today, Gimenez is set to rejoin Godin in central defence after missing the 3-0 victory over Russia due to injury.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, will look to get back among the goals having had a penalty saved in Portugal's 1-1 draw with Iran. That, and the VAR-awarded late spot-kick for the Iranians, condemned the defending European champions to this tie rather than a meeting with the hosts in Moscow.

Portugal surely would have preferred that, for while Uruguay continue to produce tough centre-backs, they are by no means completely reliant on them.

 

This is a side with excellent, Italian-based midfielders in Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Torreira and Matias Vecino. And up front they boast two of the greatest goal-scorers of their generation in Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani.

Suarez might lack the same sharpness of old, but he has still scored twice in Russia. One more and he will equal 1950 World Cup-winner Oscar Miguez's Uruguayan record of eight goals at the tournament.

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Teams speak: "They are a typical South American side," said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.

"It's not just in this World Cup that they have not been conceding goals. It has been like that for the whole of 2018. Oscar Tabarez is the longest-serving international manager. That means he has a very strong relationship with his players."

These two countries with a combined population of 13.5 million have long been overachievers on the international scene -- the last decade under Tabarez has seen two-time former winners Uruguay reach one World Cup semi-final and win one Copa America, while Portugal triumphed at Euro 2016.

And the Uruguayans hold their opponents in equally high regard, conscious that Ronaldo is supported by younger talents like Bernardo Silva and Goncalo Guedes.

"We will mark him with the same respect we mark everyone, despite him being a superstar," said Sebastian Coates of Ronaldo. "You don't prepare a match just looking at one player.

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Uruguay 23-man squad:

Goalkeepers: Martin Campana (Independiente), Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray), Martin Silva (Vasco da Gama).

Defenders: Martin Caceres (Lazio), Sebastian Coates (Sporting), Jose Maria Gimenez (Atletico Madrid), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Maximiliano Pereira (Porto), Gaston Silva (Independiente), Guillermo Varela (Penarol).

Midfielders: Giorgian De Arrascaeta (Cruzeiro), Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus), Diego Laxalt (Genoa), Nahitan Nandez (Boca Juniors), Cristian Rodriguez (Penarol), Carlos Sanchez (Monterrey), Lucas Torreira (Sampdoria), Matias Vecino (Inter).

Forwards: Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain), Maximiliano Gomez (Celta Vigo), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Cristhian Stuani (Girona), Jonathan Urretaviscaya (Monterrey).

Uruguay form: Uruguay qualified from the group phase with an unblemished record and are hoping to carry that momentum into the latter stages. The team are gelling superbly and Tabarez’s only dilemma concerns the defence, where he may make a change. The aim will be to win the midfield battle and to gamble on the pace of their forwards.

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Portugal 23-man squad:

Portugal: Portugal are well prepared and hopeful of delivering a big performance against Uruguay. The team are growing in strength at the tournament but must improve in the transition from midfield to attack and get more bodies into the box in order to score more goals.

Goalkeepers: Anthony Lopes , Beto , Rui Patricio

Defenders: Bruno Alves , Cedric Soares, Jose Fonte, Mario Rui , Pepe , Raphael Guerreiro , Ricardo Pereira , Ruben Dias

Midfielders: Adrien Silva , Bruno Fernandes , Joao Mario , Joao Moutinho, Manuel Fernandes , William Carvalho

Forwards: Andre Silva , Bernardo Silva , Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Gelson Martins , Goncalo Guedes, Ricardo Quaresma

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When and Where to watch: Uruguay vs Portugal

Time: 11:30 PM (IST)

In today's second Group of 16 match, Uruguay vs Portugal, will be played at Fisht Stadium on Saturday, June 30, 2018 at 11:30 PM (IST).

Uruguay vs Portugal will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony Six and Sony Six HD in English Commentary and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.

Uruguay vs Portugal will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv also. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers.

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Possible Line-ups

Uruguay (4-4-2): Fernando Muslera; Martin Caceres, Jose Maria Gimenez, Diego Godin, Diego Laxalt; Nahitan Nandez, Matias Vecino, Lucas Torreira, Rodrigo Bentancur; Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani.

Portugal (5-3-2): Rui Patricio; Cedric, Pepe, Jose Fonte, Raphael Guerreiro, William; Adrien Silva, Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Mario; Goncalo Guedes, Cristiano Ronaldo.