Portugal vs Spain: 5 Talking Points, World Cup 2018

#4 Portugal need a Plan B

Does Ronaldo have to do everything himself?

While the counter-attacking football was all well and good for Portugal in the first half, the second half left a lot to be desired from the Euro 2016 champions. They had two shots on target in the first half and none in the second.

De Gea may have been furious with himself for the error in the first half but he should thank his teammates for keeping Portugal at bay for much of the second half - at least until the foul that gave Ronaldo the opportunity to equalise.

Once Spain took the lead, they were quite content to keep possession and it was only towards the end of the game that Portugal applied pressure when Ronaldo equalised from the free-kick that shouldn't have been given away in Ronaldo territory.

But apart from Ronaldo, no other Portuguese player threatened to test De Gea. They had only three shots on target - all Ronaldo.

Santos had thrown on both Ricardo Quaresma and Andre Silva when they were chasing the game and neither player managed to make the desired impact. If they are to go deeper in the tournament, they will have to count on more than just Ronaldo to bail them out.