Uruguay 2-1 Portugal: Cavani’s superb double sends Ronaldo home

The mighty fell one after the other at the World Cup on Saturday night. 

It was as if they were two halves of an old couple, neither of whom could live after the other had gone. 

First, it was Lionel Messi, vanquished by the teenage brilliance of Kylian Mbappe, and then a few hours later and 1200 miles to the south, it was Cristiano Ronaldo, who tried extravagantly to drag his team past Uruguay and failed.

Cavani timed his run perfectly to meet the ball in the air with a supreme header after Luis Suarez picked him out with a cross

Cavani hug in the air as he got his body in position to head the ball past Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio who had no chance

Inter Milan midfielder Matias Vecino was the first of Cavani’s Uruguayan team-mates to join the striker in the celebrations

The thousands of Uruguay supporters inside the Fisht Stadium in Sochi rose out of their seats to celebrate Cavani’s goal

Portugal responded well in the second half and were level when Besiktas central defender Pepe scored with a header

Pepe ran away to celebrate after his powerful header left Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera completely stranded

But Uruguay were back in front and heading for the quarter-finals when Cavani bent a right-foot effort into the far corner

His celebration said it all after he scored his side’s second goal against Portugal and in turn also doubled his tally on the night

And so the tournament lost them both on the same day. And the thing is that the tournament has been so good that it feels as if it might not actually miss them. 

For the first time in careers that have defied the years for so long, it felt as though maybe Ronaldo and Messi belong to the past now and that Portugal’s defeat by the shores of the Black Sea marked the second act of the changing of the guard in football’s superstar world order.

Many had hoped that Portugal and Argentina would win their second round ties so that the two men might meet in one last titanic battle in the quarter final in Nizhny Novgorod. Neither of them made it.

The two men played out their own private feud right until the bitter end. Even as their worlds crumbled around them, they were cocooned in the battle for supremacy that has defined football for the last decade. 

And as they fought and argued and boasted, others stepped forward to take centre stage. It is unlikely that either Ronaldo or Messi will return in Qatar four years hence to try to reclaim their crowns.

Ronaldo had taken to the pitch at the Fisht Olympic Stadium with a goatee beard sprouting from his chin. It was part of the private joke that was not really much of a joke at all. Offended because Messi had filmed an adidas advert with a goat, Ronaldo interpreted that as a boast that Messi thought he was the Greatest of All Time. He responded with his goatee.

And as they fought, they fell. They have triumphed together and dominated together for more than a decade and on Saturday chunks of their career died together.

Earlier in the evening, 1200 miles to the north in Kazan, Messi had done his utmost to haul his fractured, dysfunctional, misfiring Argentina side into the last eight but the superhuman feats he performs on a regular basis for Barcelona are on shorter rations at World Cups and France were simply too young and too good.

Cristiano Ronaldo appeals early in the game after he appeared to have been brought down by Uruguay forward Cavani

Cavani’s diving header beats Rui Patricio at his near post and provides Uruguay with a perfect start to the last-16 fixture

Cavani raises his arms in the air as he allows himself a few moments to enjoy his second goal at the World Cup in Russia

Portugal head coach Fernando Santos raises his hands to his head after watching Cavani take the lead against his side

Ronaldo had a sight at goal when Portugal were awarded a free-kick not too far outside the Uruguay penalty area

Ronaldo rolled his shorts up to reveal his defined legs – somewhat a trademark of his these days – to prepare for his shot

But a few seconds later and Ronaldo was looking up into the sky after watching his effort cannon off the Uruguay wall

Amid the euphoria of watching such a vibrant French performance, there was something poignant about seeing Messi upstaged by the teenage superstar talent of Kylian Mbappe, whose speed and boldness were too much for Argentina’s habitually ragged defence to cope with. Those searching for the heir to Messi and Ronaldo felt they did not have far to look.

Messi is 31 now and although he has kept age at bay when he plays at the Nou Camp, the youth and the optimism and the vigour of Mbappe made Messi look old, perhaps for the first time in his career. He still created two of Argentina’s three goals but when the final whistle sounded his team’s elimination, he stood stock still near the centre circle, blank and outwardly emotionless.

Ronaldo hurtled into the game against Uruguay like a man on a mission. He started with a couple of extravagant stepovers and after he had been the object of a particularly industrial foul from a Uruguay defender, he ran on to a short pass from Bernardo Silva and a hit a fierce low shot straight at Fernando Muslera.

But then in the seventh minute, Cavani collected the ball on the right and drilled a long ball out to the left to Suarez. Suarez was looking up to see where Cavani was even as he cut inside Ricardo and the former Liverpool player found him perfectly with a cross hit to the back post with pace and curl. Cavani rose unmarked and headed the ball into the roof of the net.

Portugal’s Adrien Silva grabs the shirt of Rodrigo Bentancur as the pair attempt to gain possession of the ball in the first half

Cavani went close again near towards the end of the first half but Paris Saint-Germain striker was denied a second goal

Uruguay striker Luis Suarez reacts after missing another chance to extend his side’s scoreline over Portugal in Sochi

Uruguay’s Martin Caceres (ground) and Nahitan Nandez do their best to win the ball off Ronaldo as he ran forward

Ronaldo jogs off the pitch at half-time after a disappointing first half for the Real Madrid star and his Portugal team-mates

Portugal were level when former Real Madrid central defender Pepe rose highest to direct the ball into the net with a header

The Portugal players raced over to Pepe to celebrate after his goal brought them level in the last-16 fixture against Uruguay

But then came Cavani’s excellent strike from range which caught out Rui Patricio before nestling in the Portugal net

Cavani was mobbed by his team-mates after scoring the goal that once again had Uruguay in the lead in Sochi

Ronaldo did his best to rally his side, mainly by adopting a shoot-on-sight policy, but Suarez was still orchestrating play more effectively for Uruguay. Midway through the half, he drew a clumsy foul from Jose Fonte 25 yards out and then lashed the free kick low towards Rui Patricio’s bottom left hand corner. Patricio dived full length to push it away.

A few minutes later, Ronaldo finally got his own chance with the dead ball. Rodrigo Bentancur barged into Goncalo Guedes on the edge of the box and everyone knew this was prime Ronaldo territory. Everyone knew this was roughly where he had scored the equaliser from in the dying minutes against Spain. He hitched up his shorts, his usual ritual, and then blasted the ball straight into the wall.

Ten minutes after half time, Portugal were level. When Raphael Guerreiro swung a cross over from the left, Ronaldo rose highest in the box but the ball was too high for him. As its trajectory grew lower, Pepe leapt behind Ronaldo and met the ball in the middle of his forehead, powering it past Muslera.

But parity did not last long. Five minutes later, Uruguay broke and spread the ball wide to Cavani on the left. Cavani made up his mind what he was going to do long before it reached him. He ran on to it, opened his body and curled the ball beyond Rui Patricio with his right foot. It was a beautiful companion for his first goal.

Near the half way line, Ronaldo looked to the heavens and threw his arms up in the air in that gesture of petulance that has become one of his less edifying trademarks. Again and again he did it, as Uruguay celebrated far away in the corner, unable to understand how his teammates could have let this happen to him.

They nearly dragged themselves back into the game a second time when Muslera came far, far off his line to try to claim a cross and dropped it. He chased after it like a kid trying to catch a bouncy ball but Bernardo Silva nicked it away from him. Muslera was nowhere now but Silva could not control his shot, on his weaker right foot, and it climbed over the bar.

Ronaldo did his theatrical best to wrest an equaliser but it would not come. Almost his last act was to be booked. He would have missed the showdown with Messi anyway. He will be 37 when the next World Cup comes around. The greatest days of the greatest showmen on earth may be behind them. 

Ronaldo’s son, Cristiano Jr, was in the stands to watch his dad try and reach the quarter-finals with Portugal

Stewards at the stadium in Sochi acted fast to restrain one fan who had managed to get on to the pitch ahead of kick-off

Uruguay line up for the pre-match photograph ahead of their last-16 tie against Portugal at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi

Portugal’s players stood arm-in-arm during their country’s national anthem ahead of the crucial knockout fixture on Saturday