 "Portugal vs Spain highlights: Ronaldo's scores hat-trick in 6-goal thriller")
In the modern world, people tend to get carried away with the moment - but Portugal vs Spain match is a classic everyone will talk about, even in the distant future. A World Cup classic that will be remembered for ages because of its thrilling back-and-forth game, stunning goals and top class performances. The match in itself certainly lived up to its billing. "The first big match of the tournament," they said. It certainly was. For the goals and the quality of the play. Six goals were scored; three apiece for both teams.
It all began very early in the match. Ronaldo opened the floodgates just 4-minutes into the game with a penalty awarded for what some thought was a soft foul against Nacho. The Portuguese captain made no mistakes as he buried the ball to the right of the net, sending De Gea the wrong way. A desperate Spain took over with their pressing style of play, with Andres Iniesta, Isco and David Silva popping almost everywhere. The Spanish were sleek and neat in possession, the way they have been for over a decade now. But for a team known for its artistry and obsession with 'doing things the right way', it was Diego Costa -- a man of relative disrepute -- who brought them the equaliser in the 24th minute. Costa received a long ball forward, fended off a challenge from Pepe (which had a tinge of foul in it), and then of Fonte before firing a bottom corner finish. '
Spain was on cruise control after the equaliser, controlling maximum possession and orchestrating the gameplay. The midfield led by Iniesta, Silva and Isco made sure the ball was on the other half while Portugal sat back and looked for a counter-attack. But in the 44th minute, Ronaldo scored. An atrocious mistake by De Gea helped Portugal make it 2-1 just before halftime.
Spain came back with more pressure after half time, controlling maximum ball possession with a classic display of tiki-taka. 10 minutes into the second-half Spain equalised again with a second goal from Costa and eventually extended the lead 3 minutes later through a stunner by Nacho. It seemed like Spain have secured three points from their first match after all but the match was far from being over
The man from Madeira is called the World's greatest player for a reason. He came, he saw and he conquered the day with utter flamboyance. In the 86th minute, Gerard Pique fouled Ronaldo on the edge of the box which resulted into a free-kick to Portugal. The 5 time Ballon d'Or winner stood there in his trademark style and curled a ball beyond the reaches of leaping Ramos and Pique. The ball dipped and nestled into the top corner. A copybook Ronaldo. The man had scored his 51st career hat-trick (club and country) and the 51st hat-trick in the history of World Cup.