Ronaldo hat-trick forces World Cup Fantasy re-think

Cristiano Ronaldo was the stand-out star of the show on the first full day of World Cup fixtures.

Meanwhile, there were important Fantasy returns for Uruguay players and Morocco’s defensive assets disappointed.

We’ve got the full round-up of World Cup Fantasy action from day two of the tournament.

PORTUGAL 3-3 SPAIN

Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.0m) scored a hat-trick as Portugal and Spain played out an instant World Cup classic encounter in Sochi.

His three goals and extras for winning a penalty took his total for the match to 16 points and seriously changed the way that World Cup Fantasy managers should think about their budget.

Ronaldo came into the match owned by just eight percent, largely on account of a tricky opening fixture and his exorbitant cost. But he more than lived up to his price-tag and is expected to earn a high number of transfers in for Gameround 2.

The Real Madrid man won his own penalty kick in the fourth minute, before slotting it past David De Gea (£6.5m) to give Portugal the lead.

Diego Costa (£9.0m), owned by just one percent of managers, equalised shortly afterwards after some strong centre-forward play.

Ronaldo struck again in the 44th with a shot from range, assisted by Goncalo Guedes (£7.5m), that was helped into the net by De Gea, who had been backed by 21 percent of World Cup Fantasy managers.

Portugal led at the break but Spain turned the game on its head in the second-half. Costa netted his second of the night from a Sergio Busquets (£6.5m) knock-down at a set-piece before Nacho’s wonder-strike from the edge of the box put Spain in the lead.

Ronaldo completed his hat-trick in the dying stages as he fired a free-kick into the top corner.

His trio of goals and a brace for Diego Costa will almost certainly see Fantasy managers target them in the transfer market in the coming days as both Portugal and Spain prepare for matches against lowly Morocco and Iran.

PORTUGAL (4-4-2): Rui Patricio; Guerreiro, Fonte, Pepe, Cedric; Moutinho, Carvalho, Fernandes (Mario 68’), B Silva (Quaresma 69’); Guedes (A Silva 80’), Ronaldo.

SPAIN (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Alba, Ramos, Pique, Nacho; Koke, Busquets; Iniesta (Thiago 70’), Isco, D Silva (Vazquez 86’), D Costa (Aspas 77’).

EGYPT 0-1 URUGUAY

Jose Gimenez (£5.5m) was the hero for Uruguay as they left it late to beat Egypt in Yekateringburg.

The centre-back got his head on the end of a Carlos Sanchez (£7.0m) free-kick in a match they dominated but failed to impress in.

Jimenez came out of the meeting with Egypt as the highest Fantasy scorer combining his goal and clean sheet for 12 points. Substitute Sanchez registered four.

Both players are likely to be the subject of transfer activity in the coming days. After all, Oscar Tabarez’s men scored more goals from set-pieces than any other South American or European side in qualifying and they showed their threat from those situations in the win over Egypt.

More importantly, their next opponents Saudi Arabia are the shortest squad at the World Cup and conceded two headed goals in their 5-0 drubbing by Russia on opening night.

Striker Edinson Cavani (£9.5m) will also be targeted in the transfer market ahead of Gameround 2. The PSG man was unlucky not to come away from Uruguay’s win over Egypt without any Fantasy returns. In the last 10 minutes his wonderful ranged effort on goal was well-saved by goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy (£4.5m) and minutes later his powerful free-kick from a similar position cannoned back off the far post.

Luis Suarez (£10.5m) may struggle to match Cavani’s popularity in the coming days after he put on a poor performance. The Barcelona forward fired a guilt-edged first-half opportunity into the side netting from two yards out and missed several other chances in the match.

For, Mohamed Salah (£8.5m) stayed on the bench for the duration of the match with the Pharaohs offering little going forward, but asking Uruguay some defensive questions in short spells.

However, Diego Godin (£5.5m) had the answers for each and every one, earning six points for his 21 percent ownership. Fernando Muslera (£5.5m), Martin Caceres (£5.5m) and Guillermo Varela (£4.5m) also registered six points for the clean sheet.

EGYPT 4-2-3-1: El-Shenawy; Abdel Shafy, Hegazy, Gabr, Fathy; Hamed (Morsy 50’), Elneny; Trezeguet, El-Said, Warda (Sobhi 82’), Mohsen (Kahraba 63’).

URUGUAY 4-4-2: Muslera; Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Varela; De Arrascaeta (C Rodriguez 59’), Vecino (Torreira 87’), Bentancur, Nandez (Sanchez 58’); Cavani, Suarez.

MOROCCO 0-1 IRAN

There was heartbreak for the small percentage of managers in possession of Moroccan defensive assets in their 1-0 defeat to Iran.

Medhi Benatia (£5.0m) and Achraf Hakimi (£4.5m) were the most-owned players in the match and they nearly did the job required of them by five and four percent of managers respectively.

However, Aziz Bouhaddouz’s (£5.5m) stoppage time own-goal, wiped out the clean sheet as his head connected with defender Ehsan Hajsafi’s (£5.0m) free-kick.

However, upcoming fixtures against Spain and Portugal may put Fantasy managers off using assets from either nation again in the Group Stages.

A lack of investment in attacking players from either nation proved to be justified as neither Morocco or Iran looked like scoring for most of the match. A goal-mouth scramble in the early stages, well cleared by the Asians, was Morocco’s best opportunity in the first-half.

The best chance of the second fell to Hakim Ziyech (£7.0m) whose powerful shot from range stung the palms of Alireza Beiranvand (£4.5m) in the 79th minute, but it was a decent stop from the goalkeeper.

On balance, Morocco should have won the match and they will be disappointed to have lost it at the death.

MOROCCO (4-1-4-1): El Kajoui; Hakimi, Saiss, Benatia, N Amrabat (S Amrabat 76′); El Ahmadi; Ziyach, Belhanda, Boussoufa, Harit (Da Costa 82’); El Kaabi (Bouhaddouz 77’).

IRAN (4-3-3): Beiranvand; Rezaeian, Cheshmi, Pouraliganji, Hajsafi; Shojaei (Taremi 68’), Ansarifard, Ebrahimi (Montazeri 79’); Jahanbakhsh (Ghoddos 85’), Azmoun, Amiri