He scores in the 82nd minute on a diving header for a 1-0
victory over Sweden. France's chances of qualifying for World Cup take a hit in
2-0 loss to Ukraine.
Cristiano Ronaldo upstaged Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the
battle of the superstar forwards to give Portugal the edge over Sweden in the
World Cup playoffs, while France's chances of qualifying took a big hit by
losing, 2-0, in Ukraine.
Ronaldo transferred his prolific scoring form for Real Madrid
to the international stage, diving to head home an 82nd-minute winner and give
Portugal a 1-0 cushion to take to Stockholm for Tuesday's second leg.
France faces the prospect of missing a major tournament
for the first time since 1994 after Roman Zozulya and Andriy Yarmolenko scored
second-half goals for Ukraine in a feisty match that saw both teams finish with
10 men.
Kostas Mitroglou's double helped Greece claim a 3-1 win
over Romania, and tiny Iceland overcame a sending-off early in the second half
to hold on for a 0-0 draw with Croatia, keeping alive its hopes of becoming the
least populous nation to reach a World Cup.
All four return matches take place on Tuesday, when the
13 qualifiers from Europe will be finalized.
Italy drew 1-1 with Germany and an experimental England
team slumped to a 2-0 home loss to Chile in headline friendly matches as the
countdown to next year's World Cup begins in earnest.
One of the world's top forwards will be absent in Brazil
next summer — and it looks more likely to be Ibrahimovic, not Ronaldo.
The heavily billed showdown between two of the biggest
stars — and egos — in football looked like falling flat in Lisbon, only for
Ronaldo to take center stage like he so often does for Madrid.
He dived to glance in a left-wing cross for his 44th goal
in 108 international appearances, and almost added another when he headed
against the crossbar late on.
Ibrahimovic was largely anonymous in Lisbon and, at the
age of 32, could be set to miss out on what would likely be his final World Cup
campaign.
Another star of the world game, Bayern Munich winger
Franck Ribery, may also be absent in Brazil after France tumbled to defeat in
Kiev.
Iceland, with a population of around 320,000, is seeking
a place in a major tournament for the first time, but the biggest football
match in the Nordic country's history turned sour when Olafur Skulason was sent
off for a professional foul in the 51st.
However, goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson and his packed
defense stood firm to repel wave after wave of Croatia attacks in the second
half. The 10,000 Iceland fans in the Laugardalsvollur national stadium greeted
the final whistle as if their team had won.
The United States played to an unimpressive 0-0 draw with
Scotland in an exhibition game Friday, although the Americans had several
strong scoring chances in the final minutes.
Substitutes Aron Johansson and Brek Shea sparked the
Americans in the second half at Glasgow after they were held in check for the
first 45 minutes.
This was the first game for the U.S. since completing
qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The U.S. team, ranked 13th in the
world after winning CONCACAF qualifying, finishes its 2013 schedule Tuesday at
Austria. Scotland, ranked 35th, did not qualify for Brazil 2014.
Culled from Latimes
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