Northern Ireland earn Portugal draw

16 October 2012 22:52

Northern Ireland were 10 minutes away from a famous victory over a Portugal side 114 places places above them in the FIFA rankings, but still managed to spoil Cristiano Ronaldo's big day with a battling 1-1 draw in Porto.

The Group F match was supposed to be all about the Real Madrid superstar, who was presented with his 100th cap in a pre-match ceremony involving Luis Figo, but Michael O'Neill's men took a shock lead on the half-hour when Niall McGinn capped a fine counter-attack.

Ronaldo and his illustrious team-mates dominated possession and chances both before and after that but had to wait until the 80th minute for Helder Postiga to turn home a scrappy equaliser.

Source: PA