the long-awaited goal the last two years by Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo ended his two-year wait for an international goal as his side ripped North Korea apart to claim their first win of this World Cup in style.

The two sides were only separated by Raul Meireles' goal at half-time, but Portugal produced a scintillating attacking display after the break to score six goals and spark their tournament into life.

Simao, Hugo Almeida and Tiago found the net in the space of seven minutes to end any hopes of a North Korean comeback, before Liedson, Ronaldo and a second from Tiago completed a similar quick-fire salvo at the end of the game.

This was a re-run of one of the most famous matches in World Cup history, 44 years on from the memorable day when North Korea led 3-0 before being overhauled by a four-goal Eusebio blast.

Despite a lively start by North Korea, Portugal did not have to mount any sort of comeback to win this time, but they will savour the victory just the same, especially as their much-improved goal-difference makes them favourites to follow Brazil in qualifying out of Group G.

With Brazil to play in their final group game, Carlos Queiroz's side badly needed all three points and, from the start, they came forward with far more intent than during their opening draw with Ivory Coast.

Ricardo Carvalho came closest to making an early breakthrough when Korean goalkeeper Ri Myong-Guk got nowhere near a corner and he headed against the frame of the unguarded goal.

But North Korea were also looking far more adventurous than they had in their first match and, while they were a lot less secure at the back, they gave Portugal a few scares at the other end too.

Cha Jong-Hyok saw his powerful shot swerve wide after neat build-up, while Mun In-Guk headed the follow-up over after Eduardo parried Hong Yong-Jo's cross-shot from the right.

To their credit, Portugal kept their composure and although, at this stage, Ronaldo was only an occasional menace down the left flank rather than the unstoppable force he would later become, they continued to look the more dangerous side, especially on the break.

Their first goal, when it arrived after 29 minutes, was one of beauty - with Tiago slipping a precise through-ball into the path of Meireles, who tucked a low shot past Ri Myong-Guk

While North Korea did not crumble instantly, their defensive disorganisation meant they were lucky not to concede further goals before the break, only to completely collapse after it.

Simao opened the floodgates when he finished off a neat move between Meireles and Hugo Almeida, and Almeida quickly made it 3-0 when he headed home Fabio Coentrao's cross.

By now Ronaldo had woken up too, and he set up Tiago to slot home his first goal from the edge of the area before almost making number five with a perfectly weighted cross that Almeida could not quite convert.

The £80m Real Madrid winger seemed determined to get on the scoresheet himself and smashed a rasping shot against the bar before Liedson did make it 5-0 with a thumping finish after Ri Kwang-Chan's mistake.

Then came the moment most of the Portuguese fans in Cape Town had been waiting for, when Ronaldo latched on to a ball over the top, skipped past Ri Myong-Guk and, after bringing the ball down using his neck, turned it home.

Tiago's late header from Miguel Veloso's cross added a seventh goal and gave the final score an even more emphatic appearance, and one that reflected Portugal's total dominance.

Portugal	7-0	Korea DPR	FT
Raul Meireles, 29 Simao, 53 Almeida, 56 Tiago, 60, 89 Liedson, 81 Ronaldo, 87	(HT 1-0)
Team
Portugal 01 Eduardo 02 Alves 06 Carvalho 13 Miguel 23 Coentrao 08 Mendes 16 Raul Meireles (14 Veloso, 70) 19 Tiago 07 Ronaldo 11 Simao (05 Duda, 74) 18 Almeida (09 Liedson, 77)		Korea DPR 01 Myong-Guk Ri 02 Cha Jong-Hyok (16 Nam Song-Chol, 75) 03 Ri Jun-Il 05 Ri Kwang-Chon 13 Pak Chol-Jin 04 Pak Nam-Chol (06 K-I Kim, 58) 08 Ji Yun-Nam 11 Mun In-Guk (15 Kim Yong-Jun, 58) 17 Ahn Yong-Hak 09 Jong Tae-Se 10 Hong Yong-Jo
12 Beto, 22 Fernandes, 03 Ferreira, 04 Rolando, 15 Pepe, 21 Costa, 05 Duda, 10 Danny, 14 Veloso, 17 Ruben Amorim, 20 Deco, 09 Liedson		Substitutes: 18 Kim Myong-Gil, 20 Kim Myong-Won, 14 Pak Nam-Chol, 16 Nam Song-Chol, 21 Ri Kwang-Hyok, 06 K-I Kim, 15 Kim Yong-Jun, 19 Ri Chol-Myong, 22 Kim Kyong-Il, 23 Pak Sung-hyok, 07 An Chol-Hyok, 12 Choe Kum-Chol Choe
Venue: Green Point Stadium Referee: P Pozo Attendance: 63,644