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Club World Cup: Ronaldo free kick seals third Real title

Matt Pearson
December 16, 2017

A second half free kick from Cristiano Ronaldo secured a third Club World Cup win in four seasons for Real Madrid. The Portuguese superstar and his club have won almost every trophy going in 2017.

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Cristiano Ronaldo World Cup Real Madrid
Image: Getty Images/K.Sahib

Real Madrid 1 - 0 Gremio
(Ronaldo 53')

After a first half where the European champions had much of the ball but failed to do a great deal with it, Ronaldo drove the ball home through the wall after Real had been awarded a free kick 25 yards out.

The recently-crowned Ballon d'Or winner was the man who got the Spanish side in to this competition, which has been won by a European club on 10 of the last 11 occassions, with a brace in the Champions League final win over Juventus.

He thought he had another double here, just five minutes after the opener, but his strike was ruled offside. Real continued to dominate proceedings, with Luka Modric striking a post just after the hour mark.

Despite the narrow scoreline, the gap in class meant Gremio never really threatened and Ronaldo, coach Zinedine Zidane and the rest of Real's latest batch of Galacticos could add another trophy to a year that has already seen them lift the La Liga title, Spanish Super Cup, Champions League and UEFA Super Cup.