After Ronaldo misses penalty, veteran midfielder Ruben rescues Portugal with maiden goal in stoppage time to beat Republic of Ireland 1-0; dedicates winner to late friend Jota, whose jersey number he inherited
Portugal’s Ruben Neves (centre) hugs teammate Cristiano Ronaldo after scoring the winner vs Republic of Ireland on Saturday. Pic/AFP
A late winner from Ruben Neves ensured Portugal edged out Republic of Ireland 1-0 in a Group F clash on Saturday. The result secured a third straight victory and a five-point lead for Roberto Martinez’s side over second-placed Hungary.
Neves scored a stoppage-time header via a cross from Francisco Trincao to make up for Ronaldo’s 75th-minute penalty miss, which came when he blasted his shot straight down the middle and goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher stuck out his left foot to balloon the ball upward.
Kelleher then jumped up and punched his right fist in celebration while Ronaldo held his face in his hands.
A tattoo of Ruben Neves hugging late teammate Diogo Jota on the former’s left calf. Pic/Portugal Football’s Instagram
Fans in Lisbon delivered a moment of applause in the 21st minute in memory of Diogo Jota, who wore that jersey number for Portugal. The former Liverpool forward died in a car accident in July along with his brother.
Therefore, it was only fitting that Neves, who is now wearing the No. 21 jersey, celebrated his goal — his first in 60 international appearances — by pointing to the sky and unveiling the tattoo on his left leg that shows him hugging Jota, his close friend.
“It [the goal] was very important for me. The first goal with the national team is always special, even more so with this jersey number. They [Republic of Ireland] are a very physical side. Against sides like this if we don’t score early, the game gets harder. But we kept calm and eventually managed to find the space to score,” said Neves.
Meanwhile, Spain sit atop Group E with nine points after a third win. Despite missing the injured Lamine Yamal, Spain took the lead midway through the first-half thanks to Yeremy Pino before Mikel Oyarzabal made it 2-0 with a free kick in the second-half.
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