Cristiano Ronaldo rages after rival's cheeky act at World Cup

A funny moment involving Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup has left football fans in stitches after a rival player from Ghana copied the Portuguese star's iconic 'siuu' celebration. Portugal had the last laugh in their opening game in Group H after holding off a fast-finshing Ghana to open their account with a 3-2 win.

Ronaldo found himself in the record books after becoming the first man to score in five World Cups after driving home a penalty for his side's opening goal in the 65th minute. All eyes were on 37-year-old Ronaldo after his departure from Manchester United this week and never more so than when he stepped up to take the spot kick after being tripped in the box.

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After taking several deep breaths, Ronaldo confidently beat Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi to make history and set Portugal on their way to victory. Until then he had been tied on scoring at four World Cups alongside Pele, of Brazil, and Germans Uwe Seeler and Miroslav Klose.

Andre Ayew levelled in the 73rd minute from close range - the first goal scored by an African side at Qatar 2022 - after fine work down the left by Mohammad Kudus. Portugal re-took the lead four minutes later when a superb pass from Bruno Fernandes split the Ghana defence and Joao Felix cleverly clipped the ball over the goalkeeper.

Two minutes later Portugal substitute Rafael Leao curled in Portugal's third from another perfectly weighted Fernandes pass. However, substitute Osman Bukari took advantage of some lax marking to head in a deflected cross in the 89th minute, before Portugal held on to claim three points.

By that stage Ronaldo was a spectator on the Portugal bench and he did not look too pleased to see Bukari score the goal, before running towards the sideline and imitating the football great with his own 'siuu' celebration.

Cameras cut to a clearly disgusted Ronaldo sitting on the Portugal bench, although in fairness his angry reaction was perhaps more to do with his side conceding a late second goal, rather than the Ghanaian's celebration. Either way, viewers couldn't get enough of the moment on social media.

Cristiano Ronaldo into the record books

Ronaldo's penalty broke the deadlock after a tight first half, in which he had a goal ruled out for a foul, and from then on the goals continued to flow as the error count grew. Now without a club after his messy exit from Manchester United, Ronaldo has scored in every World Cup since his first in 2006 and has a record 118 international goals.

"It was a beautiful moment," Ronaldo said after the match. "My fifth World Cup, we won. That was very important. The world record is something that makes me very proud."

Ronaldo received a huge ovation when he was replaced but barely had a chance to sit down when Ghana made it 3-2. In the nine minutes of added time that followed, Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa failed to spot Ghana striker Inaki Williams standing behind him when he released the ball inside the box.

Williams raced past the startled keeper and reached the ball first, but he slipped at the crucial moment and Danilo Pereira eventually cleared the ball off the line.

So Portugal survived to move top of Group H, winning their opening World Cup match for the first time since 2006. Ghana have the youngest squad in Qatar and perhaps it showed as their defence folded against a Portugal side that scored three times in 16 minutes. But their coach, Otto Addo, strongly criticised the award of Portugal's penalty.

Addo said his defender Mohammed Salisu had touched the ball before Ronaldo. "We play the ball and then there is contact. I don't know what they did, if the video referee was asleep," he said. "The fact that they don't even look at this scene is madness. It was a wrong decision."

However, Portugal coach Fernando Santos disagreed after declaring: "If the video referee thought there was something wrong, he would have intervened. He didn't. So I guess there was nothing to see."

Portugal's win sees them sit at the top go Group H after rivals South Korea and Uruguay fought out a 0-0 draw in the other game. The Portuguese next face Uruguay, while Korea and Ghana will be looking for their first wins when Group H action resumes on Tuesday (AEDT).

In the day's other action in Group G, Switzerland edged Cameroon 1-0, while Richarlison scored twice - including a stunning bicycle kick goal - to give South American heavyweights Brazil a 2-0 win over Serbia to go top of their group.

with agencies

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