Portugal football icon Cristiano Ronaldo was spotted training while wearing special golden-coloured shoes ahead of his side’s final group-stage FIFA World Cup clash against Colombia, scheduled for Saturday. After a return-to-form brace against Uzbekistan, Cristiano will be aiming to make his presence felt even more on the Golden Boot charts by adding a few more goals to his name. Portugal are in second place in their group, with a win and a draw to their name, taking their tally to four points, and will take on top-placed Colombia, who have won both their games. It will be key for Portugal and CR7 to stamp their authority with a dominant win in order to seal a round-of-32 spot.
As per ESPN FC, Nike are honouring Cristiano’s record of scoring in six successive FIFA World Cups – being the only player to do so – with the release of a special golden-coloured ‘Gold Scorpion’ Mercurial Superfly 11 shoe. On the shoe, his iconic moniker ‘CR7’ is printed in white.
During the match against Uzbekistan, Ronaldo led Portugal’s charge with two goals, while Nuno Mendes and Rafael Leao also found the net. An own goal involving Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov further compounded the misery for Fabio Cannavaro’s side as Roberto Martinez’s men secured their first win of the tournament in emphatic fashion.
Ronaldo’s brace saw him become Portugal’s all-time leading scorer in FIFA World Cup history, taking his tally to 10 goals and surpassing Eusebio’s record of nine. Eusebio, a Portuguese legend and 1965 Ballon d’Or winner, famously guided the team to third place at the 1966 World Cup. Behind Ronaldo and Eusebio, Pauleta is third on Portugal’s World Cup scoring list with four goals.
Ronaldo also became the first player to score in six different FIFA World Cup tournaments, ending his 10-match goalless streak across major competitions (the FIFA World Cup and the Euro Championship).
Portugal’s result came as a strong response after they were held to a 1-1 draw by DR Congo in their opening group-stage encounter, in a performance that put Ronaldo’s team under scrutiny. The victory helped Portugal get their World Cup campaign back on track and significantly boosted their goal difference ahead of the final group fixture.