Ronaldo makes a costly error leading to South Korea's equaliser against Portugal

Portugal allowed their early advantage against South Korea slip thanks to an error from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Fernando Santos's side had stormed into an early lead thanks to a goal from Ricardo Horta after just five minutes.

However, having dominated for large swathes of the opening period, allowed South Korea back into the game thanks to a lax bit of defending from Ronaldo - with the superstar then typically looking around for others to pin the blame on.

Pressing for an equaliser, an out-swinging corner was swung in from the left causing mayhem in the Portuguese box. Flatter than they were perhaps expecting, Ronaldo inexplicably turned his back on the ball and ducked allowing it to bounce off him.

Hoping that it might innocuously bounce away, Ronaldo was punished for his error with Kim Young-Gwon, a defender, gratefully receiving the chance.

It kept alive South Korea's faint hopes of qualication, while endangering Portugal's ambitions of finishing at the top of the group.

Naturally, following his prominence both in recent weeks and across his wider career, supporters on Twitter took great delight in the displeasure of the Portuguese forward.

'Good to see that Ronaldo is finally contributing to goals again. Maybe he could do that in the right goal next time,' one gleeful social media user wrote.

'I'd never play Ronaldo again after that, absolutely pathetic defending,' another offered.

Another wrote: What on earth was Ronaldo doing?!'

Meanwhile, another suggested the 'Luis Suarez narrative' - with Uruguay facing Ghana in the group's other game - was distracting from Ronaldo's poor performance against South Korea.

WhoScored, a statistics website, rubbed Ronaldo's face in it by offering the simplistic - but perhaps telling - line that he had made as many errors leading to a goal (one) as he had goals at the 2022 World Cup.

Gary Lineker also found the humour in the incident, writing: 'Ronaldo gives Portugal the lead.

Ronaldo was substituted just after the hour mark as his search for further World Cup goals continues.

It was revealed by Piers Morgan, Ronaldo's chief confidant in the media, that the Portuguese was hoping to play his way to a 'Champions League club' with strong performances at the World Cup.

'He thinks that if he does well at this World Cup, he’ll get what he really wants,' he told The Telegraph.

'Which is a club in the Champions League that extends his record and his legacy.

'It’s not about money at this stage of his career. It comes down to a burning desire to play football at the highest level, to break records and win trophies,' he added.

'And he has done that in more countries than any other player in history.'