World Cup 2014 revisited: Portugal fail mission Ghana and crash out at the group stage | OneFootball

It was supposed to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s summer of love. The Portuguese icon had just guided Real Madrid to their memorable 10th Champions League trophy, setting a new record as top scorer in the tournament. He seemed primed to lead Portugal’s dream of fighting for a World Cup on Brazilian soil.

The excellent performance two years earlier in the European Championship, losing to Spain in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals, gave real hope. Alas, much like as had happened four years previously, high expectations soon turned into disappointment as, for the third time in their history, Portugal failed to progress from the group stage.

Bento reignites hope after South Africa fallout

When the Seleção returned from South Africa in 2010, a bitter row ensued involving the Football Federation, key names like Jorge Mendes and Cristiano Ronaldo and the national team manager Carlos Queiroz. It became clear Queiroz’s second stint would finish much like the first, in agony. Portugal had played five World Cups so far. Twice they went all the way to the semis, beaten in 1966 by England and in 2006 by France. Twice, they fell in the group stage, in 1986 and 2002. The South Africa tournament was neither. For some it could be seen as predictable, particularly since the national side was ousted by future winners and arguably one of the best national sides in the history of the game, Spain. For others, hoping Ronaldo’s triumphs in club football would boost the national side to glory, they felt shortchanged.

Two years later, somehow, they seemed vindicated. Paulo Bento, the former Sporting manager who had been responsible for promoting a series of academy graduates like Nani, João Moutinho, Rui Patrício and Miguel Veloso to the Lions’ first team, was appointed successor of Queiroz, and those players were duly fast-tracked into the national team. Bento had never won a league trophy as manager, but he was seen as a choice of consensus due to the lack of big names available. There were extended talks to bring in José Mourinho in, instead, with him taking both the helm of Real Madrid and Portugal at the same time – something that happened often until the 1990s – but Florentino Perez was opposed to the idea to Mourinho’s dismay.

Euro 2012 performance builds confidence

Bento kept his trust in many of Queiroz’s usuals, but he also presided over the end of the international career of the likes of Deco, Tiago Mendes and Simão Sabrosa. His first two years on the job were positive. Portugal qualified for the 2012 Euros and scraped through the group of death after losing the inaugural match against heavy favourites Germany. Wins against Denmark and the Netherlands paved the way for a showdown against the Czech Republic in the last eight, with the Seleção coming again on top.

Portugal bounced back from a disappointing 2010 World Cup with a strong performance at Euro 2012, only falling to eventual champions Spain in a penalty shootout in the semis

Spain were waiting in the semis and, contrary to what had happened two years before, the match between the Iberian titans was intense all the way to the penalty shootout, with no side deserving to be on the losing end. Portugal fumbled on the opportunity with Ronaldo, famously, left as the last penalty taker and not getting to take his spot kick. He had missed a decisive penalty against Bayern Munich weeks earlier in the Champions League semis.

That mistake took a heavy toll on Ronaldo in the eyes of the Portuguese fans, and it didn’t improve when Portugal finished second to Russia in the qualifying stages for the 2014 World Cup. It was an important event, as it was being played in Brazil, an opportunity to make a splash in a country that Portugal had a deep emotional connection to. The Quinas squad made hard work of beating Luxembourg, could do no better than draw at home against Northern Ireland and away in Israel, and were beaten in Moscow in the opening fixtures. Once again, much like in 2010, while Ronaldo was beating goalscoring record after goalscoring record for Real Madrid, he didn’t seem capable of scoring for the national side, with just four goals in the entire qualifying group stage, three coming on a rainy night in Belfast in a 4-2 win.

Ronaldo powers Portugal to playoff win with wondrous hat-trick

By drawing against Israel again, at home, Portugal missed a golden opportunity to win the group and were forced into a play-off against Sweden. It was Cristiano Ronaldo vs Zlatan Ibrahimovic, two titanic figures of world football going eye to eye. It was also the stuff of dreams. Silencing the critics, Cristiano scored the only goal in the first leg played in Lisbon in the 82nd minute, taking a precious lead for the return match in Solna. There, in front of a hyped-up crowd of 50,000 fans, the Portuguese captain played his best match for the national side until that moment.

In the 50th minute, he opened the scoring with a thumping finish to a devastating counter-attack, a goal that seemed to settle the tie, but four minutes later Ibrahimovic scored a brace and made it 2-2, even if Portugal still had the away goal in their favour. As the Portuguese players started to show their nerves and with the Swedish crowd pushing their own for a third and winning goal, Ronaldo came to the rescue not once, but twice, completing his hat-trick with two more outstanding finishes in two minutes to make it 3-2 to the Seleção for a 4-2 aggregate win. It was a match so iconic that FIFA decided to delay the voting on the Ballon d’Or award, which the Portuguese star would duly win, weeks later.

The Brazil World Cup had plenty of colour, but it proved another dismal tournament for Portugal

Club season takes it toll on Ronaldo’s fitness

Ronaldo’s masterful display in Sweden paved the way for a memorable season for the national team captain. He beat the goalscoring record in a single Champions League edition, guided Real Madrid all the way to the final and then netted the fourth and last goal in the decisive match played in Lisbon, against city rivals Atlético Madrid, to crown Los Blancos as ten-time Champions League winners. It seemed everything was perfect. But it wasn’t.

For weeks, the number 7 was playing through an injury that only got worse with the lack of rest forced by a stressful end of season. Everything would have been ok if it weren’t for the World Cup. Ronaldo refused to treat it properly, to stop, and it maimed him more than he realised. He would never be the same player again, progressively transforming himself from a superb winger into a penalty box predator in the following campaigns. Few knew about the extent of the injury to their talisman and the draw even seemed slightly favourable as Portugal would have to face Germany, again, before seemingly winnable games against Ghana and the United States.

Although the group contained no minnows – the Africans had been a penalty short of reaching the 2010 semis – but neither Ghana nor the USA looked like they would be able to pose a serious threat to the Portuguese, who were confident of qualifying for the round of sixteen, even if in second place. Paulo Bento also had no major issues with his squad selection, with no player left out for serious injury as had happened to Nani four years prior.

Opening day collapse against Germany piles on the pressure

Pepe let his temper get the better of him in a disastrous opening day 4-0 defeat to Germany

What few expected was that in Salvador, for the opener, the national side would end up destroyed by the Germans. Thomas Müller scored an early goal, and then Pepe got himself sent off foolishly, leaving Portugal vulnerable. Müller scored two more goals to complete his hat-trick with Portugal already trailing 3-0 by half-time. Hummels added a fourth.

With the United States beating Ghana 2-1, it meant the next match was decisive, and many remembered how Portugal had turned things around in their favour against Poland in 2002. But the Americans, who had beaten Portugal in that ill-fated tournament, proved to be a tough nut to crack. Nani opened the scoring early, but Portugal lost control of the match in the second half, and the United States turned it around. Only a late goal by Silvestre Varela left the national side alive for the third and last round against Ghana.

Big win needed versus Ghana to stay in the tournament

The Africans drew with Germany 2-2, so, in theory, they could still dream of qualifying as much as Portugal. They both needed Germany to win, but while Ghana only had to recover from a one-goal deficit, Portugal had to make up four. Depending on how many goals Germany scored, they needed to compensate for that in their match against Ghana. It was simple. Win and score as many goals as possible. With Ronaldo on the starting eleven, it seemed possible, even if unlikely on the evidence of the first two matches.

Paulo Bento, never one to make many changes, decided to pull off some surprise calls. Beto was in goal instead of Rui Patrício, whose image had been tarnished in the match against Germany, while João Pereira and Bruno Alves remained the only defenders selected for the three matches. Coentrão, who had started against the Germans, had been replaced first by André Almeida and then by Miguel Veloso while Pepe was back from suspension to partner Alves. William Carvalho was now the holding midfielder, in place of Veloso, who was moved to defence, and Rúben Amorim accompanied João Moutinho in the middle of the park, with Raul Meireles dropped to the bench. In the attacking line, Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo were indisputable, but Bento changed the starting striker for a third consecutive match. Hugo Almeida had played against the Germans and Hélder Postiga the Americans, and now it was time for Éder, a surprise call-up.

Showdown in Amazonia

In the rival camp, despite all the possibilities being open for the Ghanaians, the atmosphere was tense, with news circulating of fights breaking out in the team’s camp because of match bonus issues with the national federation. The national manager, James Appiah, called upon Dauda in goal, with Afful, Boye, Mensah and Asamoah in defence, Rabi, Badu, André Ayew and young Porto prospect Christian Atsu in the middle, with Asamoah Gyan partnering the attack alongside Waris. Kevin-Prince Boateng, the side’s most famous footballer, was left on the bench, and Sullay Muntari, the team captain, was suspended for the final showdown in Manaus, deep inside the Amazonian forest.

With temperatures rising to maximum levels and the stadium packed out, Portugal knew they needed to score and they needed to do so fast. And it wasn’t for lack of trying. Ronaldo, who had just scored a single goal in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, despite being one of the deadliest strikers in the game for years, was hungry to open his particular score in the tournament and in the fifth minute slashed a shot into the crossbar, before the ball went out. It was the first of several attempts that went wrong for the No7. Both Nani and Moutinho then tried their luck, to no avail. On the few occasions the Africans approached Beto’s goal, they were unable to pose a threat, as Portugal seemed comfortable controlling the ball.

First-half breakthrough

On the half-hour, the first goal of the match came. A Veloso cross on the left was intended to reach Moutinho but was instead deflected by John Boye and betrayed Dauda, who could do but stare in horror as the ball entered the net. News coming from Recife wasn’t good, as the United States were still holding onto a draw, but Portugal knew they had to play their game and keep on insisting to balance the goal-difference numbers in their favour.

The team kept on pressing, and Ronaldo kept on shooting, but despite a well-taken free kick and a deflection on the near post, his attempts seemed more in despair than with purpose. In the 55th minute, good news came from the Germany match! Thomas Müller scored, meaning Portugal were only three goals short of progressing with more than half an hour left to play.

Ghana purple patch

However, that scoreline also gave hope to Ghana, and they began circling Beto’s goal with intent, changing the run of play. Two minutes later, Gyan scored to tie the match to the Portuguese despair and in the following ten minutes, the West Africans had three good chances of taking the lead, the ball miraculously staying out of Beto’s net. It seemed Portugal had given up when a silly Dauda mistake allowed Ronaldo, unmarked, to score and make it 2-1 with ten minutes to go.

Three more goals were still needed, but hope was alive again. Ronaldo did his utmost, sending in four efforts on goal in the following minutes, all denied by the Ghanaian goalkeeper in style. Varela also missed a good opportunity and, come the 89th minute, Bento decided it was all decided and replaced Beto for Eduardo – after sending on Vieirinha and Varela for Pereira and Eder – to give the goalkeeper a chance to experience playing in a World Cup. It was as if he raised a white flag, a message that destroyed the players’ morale for a rampaging finish that never came.

Too little too late

When the match in Recife ended, the United States players celebrated, knowing there was no way Portugal would overhaul the goal difference. Both finished on 4 points, but the Americans had a +1 goal difference while Portugal finished the tournament with a -3 goal difference, all due to the Germany debacle in the inaugural match.

If people believed South Africa had gone wrong, they were speechless after events in Manaus ended the way they did. In a tournament where heavy favourites like Spain, Italy and England tumbled out in the group stage – much like in 2002 – it seemed a missed opportunity to tackle history and do one better than 2006 or 1966. For Ronaldo, it got worse as Lionel Messi guided his Argentina all the way to the final, their first since 1990, only to be beaten by the Germans.

Ronaldo is consoled by Ghana players after both teams tumbled out of the tournament prematurely

Another missed opportunity

Like in 1966 and 2010, the Portuguese could claim that their sole defeat in the tournament was at the hands of the future World Cup winner, but it was scant consolation. A showdown against a promising Belgium generation – who beat the US side only in extra-time – had been denied, had a clash against Argentina in the last eight. Another missed opportunity meant Paulo Bento’s reign was about to end, even if there was no talk of sacking the manager at the end of the tournament. That would happen months later and in time for Portugal to make history in the 2016 European Championship.