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11:38, 26-Jun-2018
Portugal reach round of 16 with dramatic draw against Iran
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Portugal advanced to the World Cup round of 16 behind Spain from Group B after they drew 1-1 in a dramatic game with Iran.
On the stroke of halftime, Ricardo Quaresma, making his World Cup debut at the age of 34, played a one-two with Adrien Silva to cut in from the right flank and curled the ball past the outstretched hands of Alireza Beiranvand with the outside of his boot.
Portugal would rue a missed penalty by their most prolific scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo in the 53rd minute after Beiranvand pulled off a heroic save to deny them extend lead.
"The VAR is not going well. There are a lot of complaints. We must know who is riffing the game, which is making the decisions," Iran's goalkeeper said.
In the 90th minute, Paraguayan referee Enrique Caceres used the VAR to rule that Portugal's Cedric Soares had handled the ball in the box.
Karim Ansarifard converted the resulting penalty and it ended in a 1-1 draw which pushes Portugal to second in Group B behind Spain. Portugal will clash with Group A toppers Uruguay in Sochi on Saturday in the knockout stage.