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Cristiano Ronaldo is 38 years of age but the fitness levels the Portuguese striker has maintained make him stand apart from other strikers of this generation. But along with being agile in the field, Ronaldo is also a street-smart striker. The Portuguese showed it against Ghana in his team’s first game at the FIFA World Cup 2022. 

The Portugal captain earned a penalty as he appealed for a foul tackle against him in the 65th minute of the play. He then converted it and scored the first goal for his team after a goalless first half. This turned out to be a turning point with a couple of goals more following and Portugal eventually winning the game 3-2. 

However, many questioned Ronaldo’s tactics with Ghana players also showing dissent towards the decision made by the referee. Meanwhile, the FIFA panel has called Ronaldo’s penalty a stroke of genius. Sunday Oliseh, a member of the FIFA technical study group heaped praise on the former Man United striker saying it was pretty smart of Ronaldo to wait for that split second to touch the ball first. 

“Maybe the strikers are getting smarter? If you look at the penalty that Ronaldo got,” he said about the Portugal star seeming to tempt a Ghana defender into a tackle that was judged a foul.

“People can say what they want about this man, but the smartness and the ingenious thought to just being patient and wait for that split second to touch the ball first before you,” Oliseh said, “and continue my leg so that your contact will hit my leg. That is a total genius,” he added. 

Watch Ronaldo’s goal here:

Notably, FIFA’s expert analysts picked their World Cup trends Saturday from the first 16 games after each team played once. What the Technical Study Group saw was more and better crosses bearing fruit with a big increase in the number of goals — 14 instead of three — coming from wide areas compared to the 2018 tournament at the same stage.

There have been nine penalty kicks awarded so far in 16 games, putting this World Cup on track for a record 36 in the entire 64-game tournament. FIFA data showed England, Spain, Germany and Argentina were most effective at “counter-pressing” tactics many players routinely use at their clubs.