When Puerto Rico Smashes Portugal - Jay Summers... Now

In the 88th minute, Puerto Rico answered. Javi Soto, limping now from a cramp, received the ball at the top of the box. Three Portuguese defenders surrounded him. He didn’t pass. He didn’t shoot. He laughed – a loud, clear, joyful laugh that echoed through the stadium – then back-heeled the ball through the legs of the defender behind him, spun, and volleyed it into the far corner.

In the cramped, humid locker room of the Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel in Bayamón, the Portuguese team sat in stunned silence. Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. – who had inherited his father’s talent but not yet his composure – stared at his cleats. The captain, Bruno Fernandes, held an ice pack to his shin, wondering how a non-FIFA affiliate had just dismantled the fifth-ranked team in the world. When Puerto Rico Smashes Portugal - Jay Summers...

“They’re playing… differently,” whispered the Portuguese goalkeeper, Diogo Costa, his voice hollow. “Not dirty. Just… faster. As if the ball is personal.” In the 88th minute, Puerto Rico answered

In the 77th minute, Portugal finally scored. A consolation header from a corner. A polite, European goal. He didn’t pass

“Mija,” he said. “You already are.”