Qatar World Cup 2022: While Portugal won 2-0 against Uruguay on Monday, there was a debate with the opening goal as to whether Cristiano Ronaldo headed Bruno Fernandes's shot. Portugal now plans on presenting evidence to FIFA about it.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup has been no short of controversies. On Monday, during Portugal-Uruguay's Group H meeting at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, the former came up with a 2-0 triumph, thanks to Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes's brace. However, there was doubt regarding the opening goal as to if sensational striker Cristiano Ronaldo had headed in the ball through the original shot via Fernandes. While fans were split about the decision, it led to a war of words, with many trolling Ronaldo for trying to steal Fernandes's goal and vice versa. The latter clarified that it did not matter to him as to who scored the goal.
However, Portugal does not wish to sit idle with the case and intends to prove that Ronaldo indeed scored the goal after visuals suggested that the ball could have brushed his hair en route to the net. The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) intends to present the evidence to FIFA to get the goal registered in Ronnie's favour, allowing him to tie Eusebio's record of most WC goals for the side, reports 90min.
Later, the official WC ball manufacturer Adidas asserted that the ball sensor did not pick up any noise while it went past Ronaldo's head, claiming that the goal should stay with Fernandes. "In the match between Portugal and Uruguay, using the Connected Ball Technology housed in adidas's Al Rihla Official Match Ball, we can definitively show no contact on the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo for the opening goal in the game," it said in a statement.
"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," concluded Adidas.
The case is similar to English striker Harry Kane's while playing for Tottenham Hotspur in 2018. He had claimed that after then-club midfielder Christian Eriksen had shot the ball towards the Stoke City goal, he had got a faint touch. The English Premier League (EPL) retroactively vested it to Kane.