What many expected to be a great showdown between the world’s top football stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi turned out to be a somewhat disappointing and watered down display of football.
In a game in which the two legends were subbed during half-time, it was Portugal who came out on top, with 20-year-old left-back Raphäel Guerreiro scoring the game-winning goal with a perfect header only seconds away from the final whistle.
However, Argentine fans will surely question whether or not their national team deserved to lose the match, held at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Argentina was the better side throughout most of the match and had its best chance to score 12 minutes into the first half, when Messi was denied a goal by the woodwork.
Portugal struggled to find ways through the Argentine defense, with Ronaldo leading the mostly unsuccessful attempts, but receiving great support from the crowd, earned from many successful years at Manchester United
At half-time, hopes were that the game would pick up during the second-half. It didn’t.
It was only at the end of a nearly eventless second 45 minutes that Raphäel Guerreiro, who made his national team debut last Friday against Armenia, gloriously headed a perfect cross from Ricardo Quaresma to give Portugal its second win against Argentina.
But the goal did not make up for the poor performance of the two teams – especially Portugal – which surely left fans who paid between 20€ and 85€ to watch the match at Old Trafford wondering whether or not the ticket price was worth it.
