By Victor Kanayo
Clubless Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in five different World Cups on Thursday as Portugal opened their campaign in Qatar with a 3-2 defeat of Ghana in Group H.
Ronaldo shrugged off a tumultuous week which saw him dramatically leave Manchester United to bury a second-half penalty to set Portugal on their way to victory.
Andre Ayew equalised for Ghana shortly afterwards but Portugal took a 3-1 lead with goals from Joao Felix and Rafael Leao.
After Ronaldo was substituted, the Ghanaian side scored their second goal from Osman Bukari’s strike to bring them back into the game.
The result sees Ghana and Africa yet to win a game at the World Cup.
Earlier, an apologetic Breel Embolo scored the winner against the country of his birth to hand Switzerland a 1-0 victory over Cameroon in their World Cup Group G clash at the Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday.
Embolo swept home a low Xherdan Shaqiri cross after 48 minutes and then stood still with a rueful frown on his face as his teammates celebrated around him. The 25-year-old was born in Yaounde, Cameroon but raised in Basel in his adopted country.
Cameroon were the better side in the opening half and could have led as Karl Toko Ekambi, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Martin Hongla all missed good chances against a lacklustre Switzerland, who battled to get out of first gear.
But the Swiss were much improved in the second period and took the lead through Embolo’s well-worked goal. Ruben Vargas missed an excellent chance to score a second but was thwarted by goalkeeper Andre Onana as Cameroon ran out of steam.
Meanwhile, Uruguay faltered in their World Cup opener against a lively and energetic South Korea after they were held to a 0-0 draw in Group H on Thursday in a contest where both teams struggled to find the clinical edge.
Clear-cut chances were rare for either side at the Education City Stadium and although Uruguay created more goalscoring opportunities, neither team were able to register a shot on target.
