As you may know, It started with Lionel Messi being knocked out of the World Cup, and ended with his rival as the world’s best player, Cristiano Ronaldo, being eliminated as well.
Uruguay beat Portugal, 2-1, in Sochi on Saturday on two goals by Edinson Cavani, It advances to face France in the quarterfinals.
Uruguay quickly got on the board with a dramatic sequence in the 7th minute. Cavani overpassed the ball effectively across the field to his attacking counterpart, Luis Suarez. He collected it, stutter-stepped a couple of times, then whipped the ball back to Cavani, who had rushed to the goal. He completed the job with a header.
“There was a cross to the left, then across to the right - there is no scheme against that,” said Portugal’s coach, Fernando Santos. “Their strikers were very strong; one was there, the other one came from behind. That was an incredible play, they have never scored like that before.”
That left Portugal in a tight spot as Uruguay had yet to surrender a goal in this World Cup. It went on the charge and got a series of chances, but could not get the equalizer until the second half.
It came in the 55th minute. Portugal took a short corner, then Raphael Guerreiro crossed the ball. Several Portugal players jumped, but it was Pepe who got his head to it and put it in the net.
But just seven minutes later, Uruguay was back on top. A misdirected header by Pepe gifted Uruguay a three-on-three break and Cavani was left too open. He one-timed a pass from Nahitan Nandez into the goal.
Uruguay, a nation of just three million, is now back in the latter eight of the World Cup for the seventh time. And Ronaldo, like Messi, is headed for the exit. For all their prominence, neither has won a World Cup.