Cristiano Ronaldo stole the show as Portugal and Spain played out a World Cup classic in Sochi. But it was not for nothing. And it was not just that the Real Madrid superstar scored a hat-trick in the 3-3 draw — but it is his third which will live long in the memory. A free-kick that travelled at 60.5mph over a distance of 24.31 yards to the goal in a time of 0.82 seconds.

With the Spaniards leading, Gerard Pique clipped Ronaldo’s ankles to give away a needless free-kick in prime shooting position.

And now the stage was set: 24.31 yards from goal.

With exactly 87 minutes and two seconds on the clock, Ronaldo had the chance to score his — and the World Cup’s — 51st hat-trick to level the match up.

He had the look of a man who knew exactly where the ball would end up. Intermittently he primed his eyes, letting off pressure with heavy breath-in in-between.

Ronaldo rolled up his shorts. All the way up. He took a deep breath and hit the ball at a whopping 60.5mph.

And just 0.82 seconds later, the ball had gone around the wall, past a stricken David De Gea and into the back of the net.

This was the ultimate one-man show. Ronaldo won the penalty he opened the scoring with by anticipating what Nacho would do, before slotting his spot-kick past De Gea.

Before tonight, he had never scored more than one goal in a World Cup finals, despite this being the fourth tournament he’d scored in.

Though the match ended 3-3, it was as if Portugal won and not just that, it sounded as if only Ronaldo starred for his nation. The world is still talking about a goal scored under pressure at the nick of time and in an elaborate show of supreme confidence and skill.