Captain

World Cup: Spain, Uruguay and Portugal Earn Victories

Ronaldo, Suarez and Costa all step up and score as their teams earn hard-fought 1-0 victories on Wednesday

Diego Costa scored on a deflection to lead Spain to a 1-0 win over Iran on Wednesday at the World Cup.

Costa broke the deadlock in the 54th minute after being set up by Andres Iniesta. The powerful striker turned in the area and took a shot but the ball deflected off Ramin Rezeian before bouncing back onto Costa's knee and into the net.

Costa, who also scored two goals in the opening match, has three goals at this year's World Cup, trailing Cristiano Ronaldo by one. He also has nine goals in his last nine starts for Spain.

Both Spain and Portugal have four points in Group B following their 3-3 draw and subsequent 1-0 victories. Iran has three points but Morocco has been eliminated.

Trailing in the second half, Iran nearly equalized when Saeid Ezatolahi had a goal was ruled out on video review.

Uruguay Advance Thanks to Suarez Goal

Luis Suarez put both Uruguay and host Russia into the second round of the World Cup while eliminating Saudi Arabia and Egypt at the same time.

Suarez scored the winning goal in his 100th international appearance for Uruguay, knocking in a corner kick from Carlos Sanchez in the 23rd minute to give the two-time champions a 1-0 victory over the Saudis on Wednesday.

It was the Barcelona striker's 52nd goal for his country in that century of games.

Besides scoring, Suarez led his team with a hard-working performance. He fell back to defend and raced forward on the counterattack.

Uruguay and Russia both have six points from their opening two matches, putting them into the round of 16. They will face each other on Monday in Samara with first place in Group A on the line.

Ronaldo's Header Knocks Out Morocco 

Cristiano Ronaldo made European soccer history by scoring in Portugal's 1-0 win over Morocco on Wednesday, a result that makes the North African team the first to be eliminated from the World Cup.

Ronaldo's header in the fourth minute was his fourth goal at this year's tournament, and his 85th for his country. That moved him ahead of Hungary great Ferenc Puskas and alone in second place worldwide behind Ali Daei's 109 goals for Iran.

The Portugal forward celebrated his goal with a trademark run and soaring leap toward the corner flag at the Luzhniki Stadium.

Morocco lost 1-0 for the second straight Group B match and is out of contention for a spot in the next round.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us