Cristiano Ronaldo had a hand in a goal and hit a post on his return as Portugal concluded their World Cup preparations with a 5-1 romp over the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday.
The Real Madrid striker, who missed his country’s previous two warm-up games because of thigh and knee injuries, was not at his brilliant best for long periods of a one-sided friendly in the United States.
But coach Paulo Bento was just relieved to see his captain and talisman back after an injury layoff that had sparked fears that Ronaldo might not be fit for Brazil.
Ronaldo was substituted on 65 minutes, but it appeared to have been a planned change and there was no indication that he was suffering any ill effects from his injury problems.
He was replaced by Real teammate Pepe, a key defender and another whose World Cup preparations have been badly hindered by injury.
“Ronaldo played a good match, especially when considering that he has not played competitively for two weeks,” said Bento.
“Players like him are important for any team, and that is the case with ourselves too. It’s good to have him back.”
Portugal, who were flying to Brazil immediately after the match, start their World Cup assault against Germany on June 16 in Group G, which also includes the USA and Ghana.
Raul Meireles also returned to the side after injury, giving Bento a full squad to choose from for the first time in the build-up to Brazil.
“The players are all fit and we have no concerns,” said Bento. “That’s very positive.”
It took Ronaldo just 51 seconds to show what he can do, picking the ball up and powering towards goal, but his shot from outside the box was comfortable for Irish keeper David Forde.
With their next attack, on three minutes, Portugal took the lead, as Silvestre Varela crossed from the right and striker Hugo Almeida rose unmarked to crash home a header.
Ronaldo’s next contribution, on 10 minutes, was to slip awkwardly as he tried to turn, drawing gasps from the 46,000 crowd at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
But the 29-year-old, cheered every time he touched the ball, picked himself up off the turf – no doubt to the relief of Bento and 10.5 million Portuguese.
Ronaldo was inches away from grabbing a second on 19 minutes, but his direct free kick from 20 yards pinged off the inside of Forde’s post.
A minute later it was 2-0, as a Fabio Coentrao cross was deflected off the Irish boot of Richard Keough, the ball looping over Forde and beyond his outstretched glove.
On 37 minutes Ronaldo was heavily involved as the Portuguese went 3-0 up. His close-range header was saved by Forde but Almeida was quickest to the rebound to net his second of the match.
An experimental Irish side showed greater appetite for the fight in the second half and scored the best goal of the night, as a quick free kick caught Portugal napping, setting James McClean free in the box.
He still had plenty to do, but did it brilliantly, slaloming towards goal before unleashing a shot that gave keeper Rui Patricio no chance.
Portugal put gloss on the scoreline in the closing stages as Nani, a substitute, set up Vieirinha to thrash home and then teed up Coentrao for number five.
Nani, who impressed in his cameo, said it was “great” to have Ronaldo back.
“I think he showed he’s good, he’s well, and I think he showed he will be 100 percent,” said the Manchester United winger.
“We are in a tough group but when you are in the World Cup you know you have to challenge the best teams. We are ready for that and we are confident.”
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
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Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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PRESIDENTS CUP
Draw for Presidents Cup fourball matches on Thursday (Internationals first mention). All times UAE:
02.32am (Thursday): Marc Leishman/Joaquin Niemann v Tiger Woods/Justin Thomas
02.47am (Thursday): Adam Hadwin/Im Sung-jae v Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay
03.02am (Thursday): Adam Scott/An Byeong-hun v Bryson DeChambeau/Tony Finau
03.17am (Thursday): Hideki Matsuyama/CT Pan v Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed
03.32am (Thursday): Abraham Ancer/Louis Oosthuizen v Dustin Johnson/Gary Woodland