day five
Thursday, November 24, 2022
Uruguay-South Korea. Someone forgot to wake up Luis Suárez to remind it this is his last hurrah. The highlights of the match were the two times Uruguay hit the post with shots. Combined with the Switzerland-Cameroon match, which featured one goal and a goalkeeper Man of the Match, it was turning out to be a dull day.
And for 65 minutes of Portugal-Ghana, it wasn't much better. But then Cristiano Ronaldo won a penalty-that-wasn't-a-penalty and converted, and suddenly, everyone woke up (except, perhaps, Luis Suárez). Eight minutes later, André Ayew equalized for Ghana. Seven minutes later, Portugal had stormed back with two more goals, to make it 3-1. In the 89th minute, Osman Bukari scored to bring Ghana within one goal. And that's where the scoring ended, although Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa provided one last thrill when he placed the ball on the ground to kick it away, failing to notice the Ghana player right behind him. That player almost stole the ball away from Costa, i.e. almost scored another equalizer, but he seemed to slip, and disaster was thwarted, ending a most entertaining half hour.
Brazil-Serbia. More fun than I expected. Serbia held off the Brazilians for 60 minutes, until Richarlison scored twice to make sense of the world. His second was the best goal of the Cup so far. Serbia were outmatched throughout, but goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic kept them in the game.
Tomorrow: