The Spanish supporters groaned as Porro spun to chase, and while he did, Rodri mirrored him right in front of Ronaldo as he carried the ball forward.
Then, deliberately, he allowed it to roll slightly beyond his reach.
Rodri saw it, and for one instant, the midfielder believed Ronaldo had taken too much on the touch.
He moved toward it and then lunged, but that was the trap.
Ronaldo reached the ball first and, in a split second, his right foot wrapped around it, his body spun into the roulette, and Rodri was gone.
A sound passed through the stadium that was neither a cheer nor a groan.
It was the noise of thousands of people realising, at the same time, that they were watching something dangerous.
Ronaldo came out of the turn facing goal, and without a single thought, he drew his leg back.
Izan saw it.
And for the first time in his footballing life, something cold entered his chest.
Despair.
