SAINT PETERSBURG // In the early hours of Saturday morning, a large boat with scarlet sails navigated its way down St Petersburg’s Neva River to the backdrop of fireworks and classical music. It is an annual tradition here that has become the main attraction of the city’s White Nights festival.
As far as metaphors go, it proved prophetic. By the evening, scripted and predicted by the expectant 56,290 spectators who filled the Krestovsky Stadium, the scarlet shirts of Fernando Santos’s Portugal side dominated New Zealand’s All Whites, gliding past them without trouble 4-0 and sailing for a pre-determined destination: the semi-finals.
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Cristiano Ronaldo, who Santos had suggested might be rested, even provided the fireworks. The four-time Ballon d’Or winner enjoyed warm applause every time he touched the ball, came close to breaking the deadlock when his header cannoned back off the crossbar with Kiwi goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic beaten, and eventually opened the scoring from the penalty spot.
“I am happy to help my team and score the first goal,” Ronaldo said. “It was a difficult pitch and impossible to play better, so we should all be congratulated.”
A Ronaldo goal was all that separated the European champions from hosts Russia earlier this week, but against the Kiwis — a nation ranked 87 places lower in Fifa’s world rankings — his teammates took their chances too.
While New Zealand only has one professional club and the national team is made of players deployed at various levels across the globe, Portugal were able to start with two Champions League winners in Ronaldo and Real Madrid teammate Pepe. And although it was the All Whites who managed the first shot on goal and the Europeans’ opener came from the spot, by the time Bernardo Silva added his country’s second, the gulf in quality was clear.
Manchester City recently paid £43.6m to Monaco for the services of the diminutive winger and the English club’s Abu Dhabi owners will have been watching fearfully when he stayed down clutching his ankle after being clattered by Thomas Doyle while scoring. He did not reappear for the second half.
Another Silva recently on the move added the third. AC Milan paid Porto €38m (Dh156m) earlier this month for striker Andre Silva and he scored a fine solo-effort before Nani, on for Ronaldo after 65 minutes and a round of applause, provided the flourish to the scoreline, smashing past Marinovic in added time.
“The first one was a dubious penalty,” said Kiwi defender Tommy Smith. “We knew they are a good team and maybe we tired near the end to allow them to score a couple more. Conceding four, you can see it was difficult, but I thought before the first goal, we were coping quote well.”
Ronaldo was voted man of the match by the fans, but it was Ricardo Quaresma, formerly of Dubai side Al Ahli in 2013, who proved the key figure at the heart of Portugal’s attacks. Given license to roam across the frontline, he caused problems for the Kiwi defence throughout and was crucially involved in the first three goals.
It was Quaresma’s cross that led to the penalty when Porto midfielder Danilo was bundled over. It was also the Besiktas forward’s clever looped ball over the top that allowed Eliseu to run free and pick out Bernardo Silva. In the 80th minute, despite his 33 years, it was Quaresma again who won possession before feeding Andre Silva for the third.
When he was replaced near the end there was no round of applause. Instead the camera focused on Ronaldo, who showed appreciation to his old friend with a warm handshake. The pair will now face the runners-up of Group B, which will be decided today when Germany face Cameroon and Chile meet Australia. They will be without Pepe though, who picked up a needless booking and will be suspended.
New Zealand, in contrast, go home with zero points and just one goal in three games. “We are not happy because we didn’t get any points,” Smith said. “We came here to get through and we didn’t do that.”
For Smith and the Kiwis, their ship has sailed. Portugal’s, in turn, ploughs on.
“Our objective was to get to the semi-final and we know that whoever we play, it will be difficult,” Ronaldo said. “So we have to concentrate and be ready for it because whoever we face we want to win.”
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