SPORTS: CRISTIANO RONALDO SCORES HIS 85TH GOAL FOR NATIONAL TEAM

Thursday June 21, 2018
By Aiden Graw
www.mknewslink.com
SPORTS UPDATES
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his sensational start to the World Cup with the winner as Portugal knocked Morocco out of the tournament.
All eyes at the Luzhniki Stadium were on the Real Madrid star after his hat-trick in Portugal’s opening game with Spain and, typically, he did not disappoint.
It took the captain only four minutes to make his mark in the way Morocco had feared, diving to get on the end of a Joao Moutinho cross, and planting an unstoppable header into the net.
Ronaldo’s goal put the European champions briefly top of Group B and extended his lead as the top scorer in Russia in the race for the Golden Boot.
The 33-year-old’s performance was not as spectacular as the one he produced about Spain, but he again showed why his team rely upon him so heavily.
Spain’s 1-0 win over Iran, means they top the group courtesy of having collected fewer disciplinary points than Portugal.
MOROCCO OUT BUT NOT DISGRACED
Morocco now know they will be heading home after the group stage, but they will not depart in disgrace.
They gave their fervent support plenty to cheer in the Moscow sunshine and, just as in their opening defeat by Iran, can count themselves unlucky to leave left empty-handed.
The talk before the game was whether Herve Renard’s side had a plan to stop Ronaldo and, while the former Cambridge United manager did not manage that, he did find a way to open up the Portugal defence.

TOP 13 LEADING GOAL SCORER FOR NATIONAL TEAMS
1 ALI DAEI Iran
AFC
109 149 0.73 1993–2006
2 CRISTIANO RONALDO Portugal
UEFA
85 152 0.56 2003–
3 FERENC PUSKÁS Hungary
Spain
UEFA 84 89 0.94 1945–1962
4 KUNISHIGE KAMAMOTO Japan
AFC 80 84 0.95 1964–1977
5 GODFREY CHITALU Zambia
CAF
79 108 0.71 1968–1980
6 HUSSEIN SAEED Iraq
AFC 78 137 0.57 1977–1990
7 PELÉ Brazil
CONMEBOL
77 91 0.85 1957–1971
8 SÁNDOR KOCSIS Hungary
UEFA 75 68 1.10 1948–1956
BASHAR ABDULLAH Kuwait
AFC 75 134 0.56 1996–2018
10 KINNAH PHIRI Malawi
CAF 71 115 0.62 1973–1981
MAJED ABDULLAH Saudi Arabia
AFC 71 116 0.61 1977–1994
KIATISUK SENAMUANG Thailand
AFC 71 134 0.53 1993–2007
MIROSLAV KLOSE Germany
UEFA 71 137 0.52 2001–2014

WORLD CUP RESULTS FOR WEDNESDAY JUNE 20, 2018
FULLTIME:
PORTUGAL 1-0 MORROCO (Cristiano Ronaldo)
URUGUAY 1-0 SAUDI ARABIA (Luis Suarez)
IRAN 0-1 SPAIN (Diego Costa)

FIXTURES FOR THURSDAY JUNE 21, 2018
DENMARK V AUSTRALIA @3:00pm
FRANCE V PERU @6:00pm
ARGENTINA V CROATIA @9:00pm

TRANSFER DONE DEALS

Arsenal
In
Bernd Leno – Bayer Leverkusen, undisclosed
Stephan Lichtsteiner – Juventus, free
Out
Santi Cazorla – Villarreal, free
Per Mertesacker – retired
Bournemouth
In
–
Out
Benik Afobe – Wolves, £12.5m
Brighton
In
Leon Balogun – Mainz, free
Florin Andone – Deportivo La Coruna, undisclosed
Out
Ben Hall – Notts County, loan
Uwe Huenemeier – SC Paderborn, free
Steve Sidwell – released
Jamie Murphy – Rangers, undisclosed
Bailey Vose – Colchester, undisclosed
Robert Sanchez – Forest Green, loan
Conor Goldson – Rangers, undisclosed
Burnley
In
–
Out
Scott Arfield – Rangers, free
Dean Marney – released
Cardiff City
In
Greg Cunningham – Preston, undisclosed
Josh Murphy – Norwich, undisclosed
Out
–
Chelsea
In
–
Out
–
Crystal Palace
In
Vicente Guaita – Getafe, free
Out
–
Everton
In
–
Out
Jose Baxter – Oldham, free
Conor Grant – Plymouth, free
Calum Dyson – Plymouth, free
Fulham
In
–
Out
George Williams – Forest Green, free
Huddersfield Town
In
Ben Hamer – Leicester, free
Ramadan Sobhi – Stoke, undisclosed
Terence Kongolo – Monaco, £17.5m
Juninho Bacuna – FC Groningen, undisclosed
Out
Dean Whitehead – retired
Rob Green – released
Leicester City
In
James Maddison – Norwich, £22m
Ricardo Pereira – Porto, undisclosed
Jonny Evans – West Brom, undisclosed
Out
Ben Hamer – Huddersfield, free
Liverpool
In
Fabinho – Monaco, £43.7m
Out
Ovie Ejaria – Rangers, loan
Jordan Williams – Rochdale, free
Manchester City
In
–
Out
Yaya Toure – released
Pablo Maffeo – Stuttgart, undisclosed
Angelino – PSV Eindhoven, undisclosed
Manchester United
In
Fred – Shakhtar Donetsk, undisclosed
Diogo Dalot – Porto, undisclosed
Out
Michael Carrick – retired
Joe Riley – Bradford, undisclosed
Dean Henderson – Sheffield United, loan
Newcastle United
In
Martin Dubravka – Sparta Prague, undisclosed
Out
–
Southampton
In
–
Out
Will Wood – Accrington Stanley, free
Olufela Olomola – Scunthorpe, free
Tottenham Hotspur
In
–
Out
Keanan Bennetts – Borussia Monchengladbach, undisclosed
Watford
In
Ben Wilmot – Stevenage, undisclosed
Marc Navarro – Espanyol, undisclosed
Gerard Deulofeu – Barcelona, £11.5m
Out
–
West Ham United
In
Ryan Fredericks – Fulham, free
Lukasz Fabianski – Swansea City, £7m
Out
–
Wolverhampton Wanderers
In
Rui Patricio – Sporting Lisbon, undisclosed
Benik Afobe – Bournemouth, £12.5m
Willy Boly – Porto, £10m
Raul Jimenez – Benfica, loan
Out
Aaron Collins – Colchester, loan
Benik Afobe – Stoke, loan
Harry Burgoyne – Plymouth, loan