Spain Defeats Portugal 1-0, Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup Journey Ends

Kathmandu. Mikel Merino scored the decisive goal in the first minute of the second half injury time, and Spain defeated Portugal 1-0 on Monday to reach the quarterfinals. With this, the World Cup journey and possibly the international career of great football player Cristiano Ronaldo is also considered to have ended.

Merino took a quick free-kick after a foul, advanced towards the goal, and utilized a pass from Ferran Torres, who entered the field in the 75th minute, to score the winning goal by outsmarting goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

Merino had only entered the field in the 85th minute. But within six minutes of entering the field, he not only changed the course of the game but also put a full stop to the World Cup journey of the great player Ronaldo, 41, who holds the record for the most international goals with 146 and 233 matches.

Merino's sharp performance once again proved his multifaceted ability, which contributed to Arsenal winning the Premier League title for the first time in over two decades last May. Due to injury, there was uncertainty about whether he would be included in Spain's World Cup squad.

With this victory, Spain has reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time since winning their only World Cup title in South Africa in 2010. Now, 'La Roja' will compete against either the USA or Belgium on Friday at the Los Angeles Stadium.

Portugal's captain Ronaldo was trying to take his team to the quarterfinals for the second consecutive World Cup. However, Portugal has not achieved such a feat so far.

The first friendly match between these two neighboring European rivals was played 105 years ago in Madrid. This time's encounter, however, was completely different from their last World Cup clash.

Eight years ago, Ronaldo scored his only World Cup hat-trick in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Spain. That match is considered one of the best games of the tournament.

Although the 41-year-old Ronaldo scored three goals in this World Cup, he could not create many opportunities against Spain's goalkeeper Unai Simon.

Although Spain created excellent opportunities throughout the game, it seemed like the match would go into extra time or a potential penalty shootout. But in the final moments (90+1 minute), Merino scored and decided the game.

Spain set a new World Cup record by keeping their sixth consecutive clean sheet in the World Cup. Goalkeeper Unai Simon also set a new World Cup record by not conceding a goal for 609 consecutive minutes.

Spain broke the record of consecutive World Cup matches without conceding a goal previously held by Italy (1990) and Switzerland (2006-10). Spain's journey began with a goalless draw against Morocco in the Round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup, where Morocco won on penalties.

In the group stage of this World Cup, Spain played an unexpected goalless draw against Cape Verde. After that, the team won four consecutive matches without conceding a goal to reach the quarterfinals.

Simon had previously broken the record of 517 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal with a 3-0 victory over Austria on Thursday. Italy's renowned goalkeeper Walter Zenga had set that record by keeping five consecutive clean sheets in the 1990 home World Cup.

Simon's clean sheet streak began after a 2-1 loss to Japan in the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Before the match against Portugal, he had made only four saves in this World Cup, as Austria had not managed any shots on target. But in Arlington on Monday, he made two excellent saves from Ronaldo in the first half.

The second of these saves was particularly spectacular. While jumping in the air, he caught the ball with both hands behind his back, denying Portugal a goal.