2014 FIFA World Cup: Unstoppable Cristiano Ronaldo outshines Zlatan Ibrahimovic guiding Portugal to Brazil

Last Updated: Wednesday, November 20, 2013, 10:32  

Solna: Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brilliant hat-trick as Portugal survived a second-half scare to qualify for their fourth straight World Cup final with a 3-2 play-off second leg win against Sweden on Tuesday to qualify 4-2 on aggregate.

The Real Madrid superstar scored all four on his side`s goals including the first-leg winner as he overcame an equally brilliant display from Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a classic encounter at Solna.

Ibrahimovic scored both goals for Sweden in vain as the match featured five goals in 29 minutes of second-half madness.

Ronaldo also becomes Portugal`s all-time leading scorer as took his tally to 50 and three ahead of retired forward Pedro Pauleta.

With Portugal leading 1-0 after the first-leg and the match scoreless at half-time, Ronaldo turned the game on its head five minutes after the restart when he latched onto a glorious through ball from Joao Moutinho and guided a left-foot shot past the despairing Andreas Isaksson.

The counter-attack that begun inside the Portuguese penalty area, took just two touches to send the former Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United striker free on a break that went the length of the pitch.

Sweden were left facing the daunting prospect of scoring three times in 40 minutes and roused the crowd into a frenzy when Ibrahimovic headed home Kim Kallstrom`s corner with 22 minutes remaining.

The packed crowd at the Friends Arena were given further hope four minutes later when English referee Howard Webb correctly awarded a free-kick to Sweden just outside the area which Ibrahimovic drilled low past Rui Patricio.

With a wave of yellow shirts bombarding the Portuguese defence, Ronaldo again came to the rescue with two goals in two minutes, both of them clinical finishes after breaking behind the defence.

Hugo Almeida set up Portugal`s third goal which took the sting out of the crowd before another perfect pass from Moutinho enabled Ronaldo to round Isaksson before smashing the ball in off the underside of the bar.

Portugal had the better of the first-half chances with Ronaldo twice blasting over from inside the box and Bruno Alves seeing his glancing header desperately pushed away by Isaksson.

However, Sweden kept at the task in hand with Ibrahimovic turning a close-range shot over the bar and Kallstrom`s rasping long-range shot well collected by Rui Patricio.

The stage was then set for a second-half of thrilling action and Ronaldo`s battle with Ibrahmivic which was finally won by the Portuguese.

In another encounter, France produced a stunning performance to overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit and qualify for the World Cup finals on Tuesday, beating Ukraine 3-0 in Paris.

In front of a raucous crowd at the Stade de France, Les Bleus took the lead on the night midway through the first half through Mamadou Sakho and levelled the tie on aggregate when Karim Benzema netted from an offside position on 34 minutes.

That strike came shortly after the Real Madrid man had seen a perfectly good goal disallowed, and the controversy continued as Ukraine defender Yevhen Kacheridi was sent off early in the second period. AFP ------------------------- ZEENEWS.com