SIDEBAR: Ronaldo hands Man of the Match award to teammate Tiago

Jun 21, 2010, 15:57 GMT

Cape Town - Cristiano Ronaldo shrugged off his reputation as an individualist on Monday when he handed his Man of the Match award to teammate Tiago, who was outstanding in Portugal's 7-0 drubbing of North Korea.

'I thought he (Tiago) should have been Man of the Match,' Portugal Coach Carlos Queiroz told journalists in Cape Town's Green Point stadium after the game. 'Cristiano actually handed over the prize ... because he also felt Tiago was more deserving of it.'

Tiago was everywhere as Portugal ran riot. He threaded a beautifully weighted pass through North Korea's defence on the 29th minute to set the rout in motion, then scored two himself.

Ronaldo also had a great game, although he needed a lucky bounce of the ball to score and end an international goal drought stretching back to February 2009.

The Portuguese captain, when picking up his award, said that there had been several candidates, but that Tiago had been the stand-out player.

'Three or four players on my team deserved to win this award too, especially Tiago,' he said.