Cristiano Ronaldo will have to score another World Cup goal if he is to join Eusebio as Portugal's record goalscorer in the tournament. The former Manchester United striker thought he had scored his ninth World Cup goal against Uruguay but the strike was awarded to Bruno Fernandes.
Portugal secured their place in the round of 16 last night with a 2-0 victory over their South American opponents. Fernandes tucked away a penalty in injury time to confirm the three points, but there remained confusion on who actually scored the first goal.
Initially named as the goalscorer, multiple replays showed that the 37-year-old did not get a touch and the goal was awarded to his former United teammate. However, with there being no conclusive outcome on who the goal belongs to, technology inside the ball has provided the real outcome.
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According to ESPN, the technology inside the ball has proved that Ronaldo's head did not make contact with the ball, meaning Fernandes now has two World Cup goals to his name. A statement provided to ESPN from FIFA on behalf of Adidas read: "In the match between Portugal and Uruguay, using the Connected Ball Technology housed in Adidas's Al Rihla Official Match Ball, we are able to definitively show no contact on the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo for the opening goal in the game
"No external force on the ball could be measured as shown by the lack of 'heartbeat' in our measurements. The 500Hz IMU sensor inside the ball allows us to be highly accurate in our analysis."
After the game, Fernandes admitted his confusion regarding the goal after being announced as Player of the Match. "I celebrated [the goal] as if it had been Cristiano's goal. It seemed to me that he had touched the ball. My aim was to cross the ball for him.
"We are happy with the victory regardless of who scored. The most important thing is that we achieved our aim which is to be in the next round."
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