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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Cavani shatters Ronaldo’s dream

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Edinson Cavani scored a stunning brace to lead Uruguay to a 2-1 win over European champions Portugal in the World Cup round of 16 on Saturday and set up a quarterfinal against France. Cavani switched play with a long cross to Luis Suarez and continued his run to head home a pinpoint deep cross from the Barcelona forward and give Uruguay a seventh-minute lead. Portugal defender Pepe made Uruguay pay for sitting back when he leapt unmarked to head in a cross from Raphael Guerreiro following a short corner to level the match at 1-1 in the 55th minute. That was the first goal the twice World Cup champions had conceded in the tournament in Russia, but another moment of brilliance from Cavani put them back ahead seven minutes later at the packed Fisht Stadium overlooking the Black Sea.


to their lead.

“Happy for what happened today, I hope we can go further,” Cavani said. “It’s exciting... there are no words to describe this. Really, really, really happy — look at our fans! I want to continue dreaming.”


Uruguay will play France in the last eight in Nizhny Novgorod on Friday and will wait with bated breath on the injury to man of the match Cavani, who has scored three goals in the tournament.


“Cavani sustained an injury tonight and we will have to see how that evolves as it’s not clear at this stage how serious it is,” Uruguay’s long-serving coach Oscar Tabarez told reporters.


“But as always we will bank on the strength of our team as a collective. That is our best chance against any adversary, and we know that France will be very tough indeed.


“We’re here to play all seven matches, right up until the final, and we will see what happens.”


NOT ENOUGH BITE


Portugal, who won Euro 2016 in France, dominated possession but their attack did not have enough bite to break through the steely Uruguay defence twice.


They had 61 per cent possession, played more than double the number of passes as Uruguay and had 20 attempts compared to six from their opponents.


“I think there is often a mistaken assumption that possession leads to scoring opportunities,” Tabarez said.


“We have to be strong in defence and we have great qualities and skills, especially in our defensive line. Even if you don’t have a lot of possession you can inflict pain on your opponent.”


Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure during the entire match and could not add to his four goals in the first two matches, failing to improve his record of failing to score in all six World Cup knockout matches he has played. — Reuters


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