Cristiano Ronaldo

“In beating Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal 1-0 on Monday, Luis de la Fuente's men became the first team in history to record six consecutive World Cup clean sheets.”

“The defeat marked a sad farewell to the World Cup for Portugal captain Ronaldo, the 41-year-old superstar playing in his sixth edition of the tournament.”

“The 41-year-old Ronaldo, now playing in Saudi Arabia, having confirmed on the eve of the encounter that this would be his last dance on football's biggest stage.”

“After he laboured through a 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo in the group phase, the former Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United forward scored twice in a 5-0 demolition of Uzbekistan to temporarily silence the doubters.”

“Portugal's 41-year-old superstar captain Cristiano Ronaldo had helped haul his team back into the contest, burying a 68th-minute penalty to cancel out Croatia's 53rd-minute opener from Ivan Perisic.”

“They sparked back to life in their next game, pummeling Uzbekistan 5-0 with two goals from 41-year-old captain Cristiano Ronaldo.”

“Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in six World Cup campaigns and silenced his critics after "a dark week" as the Portugal captain struck twice in a 5-0 annihilation of Uzbekistan on Tuesday.”

“That took him to 10 World Cup goals, more than any other Portuguese player including the great Eusebio.”

“His 25 touches were his fewest in a game at a major tournament for Portugal when playing the full match.”

“With Ronaldo and Portugal increasingly desperate, he took away a cut-back destined for Bruno Fernandes, who was in a better position to score.”