Portugal players could grow lucky goatees to honour Cristiano Ronaldo World Cup success, says Cedric Soares

Growth spurt: Cristiano Ronaldo sports a goatee, albeit a very fine one
EPA

In a World Cup fashion fad to rival the Romanian players’ bleached blonde hair at France ’98, every Portugal player could grow a lucky goatee like Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Cedric Soares.

Ronaldo arrived at the Luzhniki Stadium for Wednesday's match against Morocco sporting a new beard — albeit a fine one — and he promptly scored a fourth-minute winner to leave Portugal on the brink of the knockouts.

There were suggestions the goatee was for the benefit of Ronaldo’s rival Lionel Messi in the ongoing debate about which of the two is the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT), but Cedric says the Portugal captain is more likely to have copied him.

“The beard has nothing to do with Messi,” laughed Southampton’s Cedric. “It’s just an option. Maybe he wanted to have it like mine as I have one as well and maybe it is bringing him some luck. So I hope he keeps it.

“I know why I have it — I started it in England and now I do not want to take it off because it is bringing us some luck. We could all grow lucky beards, why not? If you look at our squad a lot of us have beards [already].”

Ronaldo’s diving header was his fourth goal of the tournament, stretching his lead in the race for the Golden Boot. It was also his 85th goal for Portugal, taking the Real Madrid forward ahead of Hungary great Ferenc Puskas as the top-scoring European in international football. Ali Daei, who scored 109 goals for Iran, is the only player with more.

“He’s the best in the world,” said Cedric. “It gives me pleasure and I’m proud to be part of it, to be here and to play with him. He’s amazing and he works every day. Everyone works a lot but he’s always focused. It doesn’t matter where he is, he is always working.

“When he gets an opportunity, he normally scores. Most of the strikers need five opportunities to score. If you put me as striker, I’d need 10! With him, one or two opportunities and it’s one goal. You can count on him.”

In Pictures | Portugal vs Morocco, World Cup | 20/06/2018

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Morocco, who were eliminated following a second 1-0 defeat, were the better side but they could not beat new Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio, who made several fine saves. Later on yesterday, Iran nearly snatched a draw with Spain in the other game in Group B and Cedric believes this World Cup has seen the gap close between the traditional major powers and the rest.

“This group stage is very difficult to be honest,” he said.

“There is a lot of pressure on the big teams and there is less pressure on the smaller teams.

On target: Ronaldo celebrates after climbing to the top of the Golden Boot charts
EPA

“There are no easy games. In the other groups, everyone expected a lot of teams to win and they didn’t. It’s a fact that football is changing a little and we need to always fight.

“The big teams, the small teams — it’s just a name. On the pitch, it’s totally different and it’s a good for football. It’s getting more competitive. We are prepared for it.”

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