Cristiano Ronaldo: Diving Header Gives Portugal Advantage Over Sweden

Advantage Cristinao Ronaldo, err, Portugal.

The Real Madrid superstar’s diving header in traffic gave Portugal a 1-0 win over Sweden in their World Cup playoff in Lisbon. It’s not the prettiest goal Ronaldo has ever scored, but it gives his team a big advantage heading into the return leg next week.

Ronaldo nearly made it 2-0 with a header off the crossbar minutes later.

He’s an easy target, given his vanity, but credit Ronaldo for putting his face on the line like that. He easily could have lost a couple teeth — and modeling gigs in the process.

The much hyped Ronaldo/Ibrahimovic duel hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations, otherwise, which is no shock given the track record for international soccer knockout games.