Following a disappointing opening match of the Confederations Cup in which they drew with Mexico, the Seleccao secured victory against the hosts yesterday thanks to none other than their talisman, CR7...

Portugal earned their first victory of the Confederations Cup on Wednesday as they saw off hosts, Russia, with a 1-0 victory after an early strike from captain, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The opening match of Group A for Fernando Santos' charges took place on Sunday and ended on a sour note as, despite leading twice, they eventually drew 2-2 against Mexico following a last-minute equaliser from defender Hector Moreno. Russia, meanwhile, were buoyed by a comfortable 2-0 win against New Zealand on Friday.

However, it was the European Champions who started this particular clash with confidence and they grabbed a deserved lead just nine minutes in when Ronaldo escaped the attentions of his marker to bullet a header home from close range. He very nearly doubled his tally not long after, but was denied by a superb Igor Akinfeev save.

The Russian goalkeeper kept his side in the game in the second half and pulled off another wonderful stop to keep out new AC Milan signing, Andre Silva.

The hosts huffed and puffed towards the end of the match looking for an equaliser, but Portugal never looked particularly troubled and saw out the win without much incident.