The World Cup is just around the corner and the whole world is waiting patiently for it. Since all nations must qualify for a spot in the competition, those who do not place first in their groups must enter a playoff round to determine who advances. So far, one of the more exciting playoff matches was Sweden vs Portugal; many may even go so far as to call it a “clash of the titans.” The titans in question were Paris St. Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. These two are some of the best in the world, but there was only one spot for glory. Portugal won the first leg 1-0 with a marvelous goal by the one and only Ronaldo, whose diving header left Swedish goalkeeper Isaksson stunned. By the time game two kicked off, both countries needed their heroes to send them to Brazil. Ronaldo opened the scoring with a goal in the 50th minute, setting the aggregate score at 2-0 in Portugal’s favor.
Two rapid goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 67th and 72nd minutes had the score tied up, but nonetheless in Portugal’s favor due to the away goals rule. The game then quickly began to heat up, and that energy transferred over to the entire stadium. Then, in the 77th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo put in a third goal, which spelled game over for Sweden. Not content to leave the score at 3-2, Ronaldo drove a fourth and final nail through the coffin with yet another spectacular goal. Beating defenders with his incredible speed and then outwitting the keeper, he sent a rocket of a shot into the back of the net. In the end, Portugal advanced to the World Cup and left Sweden in the dust; being able to watch two of the best players in the world go head to head in such an important game was indeed a tremendous thrill.