When the subject of Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal drought was brought up in the build-up to the match, the forward responded that his goals were like “ketchup – when it comes out it all comes out at once.” Unfortunately for Portugal the lid remained firmly on the bottle as, much like ketchup, the side’s performance was viscous and lacking in fluidity as they kicked off their World Cup campaign with a goalless draw against Ivory Coast.
Yet, the goal drought was so nearly over for the captain when just 10 minutes into the match he found himself in space some 30 yards from goal and unleashed a thunderbolt which struck the post and bounced clear. Ronaldo did manage to put the ball into the net, but his late strike was disallowed as Bruno Alves bundled over an Ivorian defender in the build-up. As it is, his last competitive international goal remains his strike against Czech Republic in Euro 2008 and the talisman’s lack of finishing is proving a worrying trait for A Selec
