Ronaldo 'happy' as Portugal beat Luxembourg
Reuters - Friday 07 September 2012, 21:52
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo scored and celebrated
as his side recovered from an early scare in Luxembourg to start their World Cup
Group F qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win on Friday.
A fifth of Luxembourg's population is Portuguese and many turned up in the
8,000-strong crowd at the compact Josy Barthel stadium but they were stunned
when a Portuguese-born Luxembourgian Daniel da Mota punished a clumsy start by
the favourites to put the hosts ahead with a fierce drive after 13 minutes.
Ronaldo, who hit the headlines after failing to celebrate two league goals
last weekend for Real Madrid and telling reporters he was "sad", levelled 15
minutes later.
The Portuguese captain slotted in an easy goal and greeted team-mates with a
clenched fist, celebrating the equaliser not too exuberantly but apparently
happy.
The visitors kept pressing on and were too strong for Luxembourg who
succumbed to a coolly-taken drive by Helder Postiga in the 54th minute.
Portugal, also drawn with Russia, Israel and Northern Ireland in Group F,
host Azerbaijan in Braga next Tuesday.