We are almost there – Ronaldo eyes knockout stages

Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed the only goal as Portugal edged out Morocco before admitting the European champions are “almost there” in their quest to reach the knockout stages at the World Cup.

Friday’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Spain – a point gained courtesy of Ronaldo’s stunning late free-kick that completed his hat-trick – coupled with the defeat of Herve Renard’s men in Moscow has put Portugal in a strong position.

Having been named man of the match, Ronaldo was obliged to appear in front of the press – even though no questions were permitted from the floor – and he said: “I’m very happy, the most important thing was to win the game, to get the three points.

“If we’d lost we could have been out and we knew that Morocco would be trying very hard.

“It was a surprise, at the start they were putting together a lot of moves but we managed to get a goal, I managed to get a goal, and get those three points.”

With four points from two games, Portugal are now in pole position to advance from Group B.

Ronaldo, whose goal was his 85th in international football, moving him second behind Ali Daei on the all-time list, added: “The expectation is to continue our work in the group phase, we are almost there.

“The goal is to go match by match.”