Portugal's Ricardo Quaresma is our Hero of the Day as he once again rises to the occasion

Matt Jones - Editor 00:48 26/06/2018
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    Cometh the hour, cometh Ricardo Quaresma. That seems to be the 34-year-old’s mantra with Portugal at big tournaments.

    The oft-infuriating Besiktas winger has been at big clubs in his career, yet never fulfills his promise.

    But he shines on the big stage internationally, as evidenced with seismic contributions against Croatia and Poland during Euro 2016’s knockouts. He added to his big-game reputation at the World Cup, putting Portugal ahead with an absolute beauty.

    Here we take a closer look at his performance.

    STATISTICS

    25 06 hero of day Ricardo Quaresma en

    30-SECOND REPORT

    It doesn’t happen too often, especially for his nation who he leads in both caps and goals, but occasionally Cristiano Ronaldo is less than his brilliant best, like he was against Iran.

    When that does occur, it’s important for someone else to step up to the mark. Not many are able to eclipse Ronaldo, but Quaresma has previous form. With Ronaldo shackled and out of sorts, it was another veteran who rolled back the years with a simply staggering outside-of-the-right-boot curler.

    GOT RIGHT

    AUDACITY – He stands out a mile with his heavily tattooed body and often-outlandish hairstyles, and if we all flash with no follow-up you could try and cut him down to size.

    But his outgoing persona is matched by incredible poise and flair on the field, epitomised by his stunning effort in Saransk. He sparked the move and then finished it thrillingly, sumptuously curling his effort beyond the reach of even giant 6ft 4in Iran stopper Alireza Beiranvand.

    GOT WRONG

    INACTIVITY – Match-winner he may be but Quaresma looked every one of his 34 years and showed why Fernando Santos had yet to give him a start. A tremendously gifted player technically, even if it’s at the expense of hard work.

    He had just 50 touches – the joint second fewest among Portugal’s outfield players, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. But while Ronaldo is always looking to contribute, Quaresma stayed in the shadows.

    He was also wasteful in dangerous situations, irresponsibly thrusting 11 crosses into the box, to little effect. Made just 25 passes – only goalkeeper Rui Patricio had fewer.

    VERDICT

    So often a controversial figure throughout a nomadic career, but there can be no doubting Quaresma’s penchance for being Portugal’s man for the main occasion.

    Scorer of match-winning goals in their last 16 and quarter-final games en route to the European Championship-crown two summers ago, he again stepped up brilliantly here.

    There’s been a lot of talk about Portugal’s new generation at this tournament, but it was one of the veteran statesmen who came up with the goods and surely one of the goals of the World Cup.

    RATING: 7/10

    All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com

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