Northern Irish Put Dampener on Ronaldo Century
Northern Ireland stole the headlines from Cristiano Ronaldo's 100th international appearance on Tuesday as they held Portugal to a 1-1 draw in their European zone 2014 World Cup qualifier.
Indeed but for an equalizer by veteran striker Helder Postiga 11 minutes from time it would have been a miserable night all round for Ronaldo, who had started it all smiles when being presented with a special cap for his 100th appearance.
However, the overall picture for the hosts, Euro semifinalists only four months ago, doesn't look rosy either as they trail leaders Russia by five points, having lost to Fabio Capello's side in Moscow last Friday.
The visitors - who ended a run of six successive away defeats - had taken the lead through Niall McGinn, a memorable strike for his first goal for his country.
"The players were tremendous and it was cruel on us to concede a late goal," said Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill.
"I thought we were heroic. I'm amazed to be standing here and saying I am disappointed to come away with a draw."
The Northern Irish - ranked 117 in the world to Portugal's third - struck on the half hour mark with a well worked move started by Manchester United defender Jonny Evans, who found Kyle Lafferty.
The striker slipped a lovely ball on the inside of Pepe which found McGinn running on and he made no mistake firing past Rui Patricio - it was the first goal Portugal had conceded at home in their last seven World Cup games.
The Northern Irish were trying shots from all angles and Patricio was nearly caught out by an inspired effort from long range by Chris Baird shortly after the goal as the Fulham player saw the Portuguese goalkeeper off his line.
The visitors, though, rode their luck on a couple of occasions in the remainder of the first-half especially when Craig Cathcart volleyed against his own bar but fortunately for the Irish rebounded to safety.
The half ended in encouraging fashion for the Northern Irish as Portuguese frustration surfaced with not for the first time Ronaldo being the most prominent moaner waving his arms despairingly and having a go at Postiga.
Ronaldo went desperately close to leveling the game, though, near the hour mark but Northern Ireland goalkeeper Roy Carroll made a great reflex save with his left leg.
The Real Madrid star was to be denied again in the 70th minute as he tried to break free but Aaron Hughes stuck to his task brilliantly and somehow managed to deflect Ronaldo's strike away for a corner.
However, the Portuguese finally breached the resilient Northern Irish defense as Postiga rifled the ball past Carroll for his 23rd international goal.
Somehow, though, the visitors managed to repel waves of Portuguese attacks for the remaining 10 minutes with Carroll producing a great save from Silvestre Varela while Nani flashed a shot just over the bar.
