BALLE BALLE

"A 3-1 would have been the end of this game at the moment," Bento said of Ronaldo's second miss.

But Bento defended his star forward, who is notorious for failing to reproduce his scintillating club form on the international stage, when asked whether the pressure was getting to the Real Madrid man.

"He has the same pressure as all the other players that want to contribute. He was in some difficult situations, but from our point of view he has shown two very good games and I am very certain that not a single player in our squad might be dissatisfied."

Defender Pepe, who put Portugal ahead with a near-post header in the first half, also jumped to his clubmate's defence.

"Today Cristiano couldn't score but he has done this on other occasions and he helped the team and showed how professional he is."