Portugal 2-1 Egypt: 5 Talking Points

Goalscorers: Salah 56', Ronaldo 90+2', 90+4'

Mohamed Salah outshines Cristiano Ronal... you can presume what I was about to write. But you don't rule out a side that has Cristiano Ronaldo. It took the Real Madrid star barely two minutes to steal Salah's thunder in what was a cruel yet mesmerising end to the game.

It wasn't the most exciting of games as Hector Cuper decided to test Portugal only on the break and play a defence comes first approach. Portugal had plenty of half chances but didn't really test Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy. The first half saw a lot of sparring but it turned out to be an undercard for the second half that saw plenty of action.

Egypt took the lead through a well-taken Mohamed Salah goal and just when it looked like they were about to hold on for a famous win, Ronaldo popped up twice in injury time to break Egyptian hearts.

Here are the talking points from the game...

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#5 Ronaldo isn't human

He's a machine. We love a player like that but I sat here cursing him for a good few minutes because jeez, this guy ruined all those full-time match reports by scoring two outrageously late goals. Two minutes isn't even to even cook noodles these days, but apparently, Ronaldo can score twice in 120 odd seconds.

Many presumed it was destined to be Salah and Egypt's night who had defended staunchly for about 90 minutes to keep the likes of Andre Silva and Bernardo Silva at bay. But when you've got a player who had plundered 17 goals in 7 previous games, you can't afford to switch off.

Ahmed Hegazy had done well to deal with the Portuguese crosses but he mistimed his jump for the equaliser and Ronaldo pounced. The second was a freekick from Quaresma. A slight movement from Ron left the defenders flat-footed and he buried his second header of the game with virtually the last touch of the game.

#4 Egypt can be proud of that performance

Egypt lost but did quite a few things right

The Africans knew they had to deal with Ronaldo and to be fair, they did that for the majority of the game. It was a harsh lesson for the side to concede two late goals, but a much-needed one before the World Cup. The defeat will undoubtedly make them stronger.

Egypt showed decent tactical flexibility, switching from a 4-3-3 to the more rigid 4-4-2 after 70 odd minutes. Now, they might not have the best players out there, so Cuper can't afford to be too gung-ho in his approach. It might be frustrating for some of the neutrals, but Egypt didn't get to where they are under the Argentine by just playing champagne football.

AT the back, the duo of Ali Gabr and Ahmed Hegazy form a good defensive partnership and in the midfield, they have someone like Mohamed Elneny to play the box to box role. Up front, Mo Salah and Ahmed Hassan can do a good job, so the team has good balance.

#3 Portugal win but leave a lot to be desired

Not the best of performances

Now, though they managed to avoid an upset, questions will be asked as to why they left it so late and why no one else rose to the challenge apart from the obvious Ronaldo. Like Messi for Argentina, Portugal rely heavily on Ronaldo to get the job done.

The win will mask some of the deficiencies of the squad. Gelson Martins' cameo was impressive and he will add a lot of pace on the wings, but the form of Andre Silva will worry the Portuguese fans who want their team to go deep in the World Cup and hope their biggest sporting icon can lift the World Cup.

The defence is also an ageing one and while Salah was on the pitch, Egypt did threaten to add to their lead on the break. Plenty to sort out for Fernando Santos before the World Cup starts.

#2 Egypt can trouble teams on the wings

Cuper knows what he is doing

While Mohamed Salah is the obvious threat on the right, Egypt also have Trezeguet on the left who is built like a tank and can outmuscle players. Ahmed Fathi played in the right-back role and though he is 33 already, he has a mean cross that can cause problems.

Early on in the game, Egypt's game plan was to overload on the right as Portugal had obviously earmarked Salah as the threat. Cuper and co. predicted that and the gaffer gave Fathi the licence to attack.

As the game went on, the fullback's impact reduced, but it showed that the Egyptians won't just roll over and let the opposition defenders dominate proceedings.

#1 Ronaldo or Salah?

Salah scored for Egypt on the night

Before the game, it was all about these two. The two have had brilliant campaigns with their respective clubs and got on the scoresheet, so credit to them for that. I'm going to have to disappoint you by saying I don't want to compare the two and state who had the better game because they play in two different setups and play entirely different roles.

The problem with the media is if players score a ton of goals, they can suddenly be compared to one another, completely disregarding the tactics and what they are asked to do.

Salah's role was to work hard, press when the Portuguese defenders had the ball and provide the drive from his own half as his side were playing on the break. He did that pretty well and even scored on the counter with a smashing effort.

Ronaldo's role was to add the creative impetus and obviously score because the Portuguese side has so few goalscorers apart from the Ballon d'Or holder. He did that to perfection. So those headline makers and the neutrals can go back happy seeing two top-drawer performances.