MANAUS, Brazil -- With Cristiano Ronaldo on the field, a one-goal lead is never safe. The world player of the year rarely sparkled on a hot and humid night in the jungle, but his inch-perfect stoppage-time cross set up Varela for the equalizing goal Sunday in Portugals 2-2 draw against the United States at the World Cup. The Real Madrid winger, who has been playing despite a left knee injury, showed flashes of his best, but his impact was minimal until the final seconds of the match. He curled the ball in to a diving Varela, who headed past Tim Howard to give the Portuguese team a slim hope of advancing to the second round and deny the Americans instant advancement. "He made a great cross," said Howard, Ronaldos former teammate from their days at Manchester United. "Footballs cruel sometimes." The United States now has four points in Group G, the same as Germany. Both Portugal and Ghana have one point. The Americans will face Germany on Thursday in Recife, while Portugal takes on Ghana at the same time in Brasilia. "Obviously were disappointed, but at the end of the day youve got to look at the positives, we got a point," said United States captain Clint Dempsey, who scored to give the Americans a 2-1 lead in the 81st. "Its going down to the last game and hopefully we get the job done." Nani scored first for Portugal, shooting past a sprawling Howard in the fifth minute. But the Americans responded in the second half as Portugal seemed to wilt in the stifling heat. Jermaine Jones made it 1-1 with a curling shot in the 64th after a cross from Graham Zusi made its way through the Portugal defence. And Dempsey, playing with a broken nose, then put the Americans ahead, using his stomach to direct the ball into the net from a cross by Zusi. "Now we have to go out and beat Germany, thats what we have to do," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "We have to play Germany, we have one less day to recover, we played in the Amazon, they played on a place with less travel. We have to do it the tough way." Dempseys goal was his fourth at a World Cup and second at this years tournament. Jones scored his third goal for the United States national team and first in almost two years. It was all Portugal for much of the first half, with Ronaldo in the starting lineup but getting less involved as the match progressed. The Americans, however, started to get more and more chances and even had a shot from Michael Bradley cleared off the line by Ricardo Costa in the 55th. "There didnt seem to be any problem with Cristiano Ronaldo," Portugal coach Paulo Bento said. "What happened during the game has something to do with our other players." The heat in the Amazon rainforest, however, seemed to slow the Portuguese as the match wore on. In the 39th minute, referee Nestor Pitana of Argentina called for a cooling break, the first such decision to be taken at this World Cup. At the start of the match, FIFA listed the temperature at 30 degrees C (86 degrees F) with 66 per cent humidity. FIFA uses the "Wet Bulb Globe Temperature" to determine when official cooling breaks should be added, and says the WGBT must be above 32 degrees C (90 degrees F) for them to be considered. The breaks are supposed to occur in the 30th and 75th minutes. There was no break in the second half, but that didnt stop Ronaldo from creating the final goal. "It was a thriller," Klinsmann said. "Everybody who had a chance to be today in Manaus will talk about this game for a long time." ------ Lineups United States: Tim Howard; Fabian Johnson, Geoff Cameron, Matt Besler, DaMarcus Beasley; Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones, Alejandro Bedoya (DeAndre Yedlin, 72), Michael Bradley, Graham Zusi (Omar Gonzalez, 90); Clint Dempsey (Chris Wondolowski, 87). Portugal: Beto; Andre Almeida (William Carvalho, 46), Ricardo Costa, Bruno Alves, Joao Pereira; Miguel Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Raul Meireles (Varela, 69th), Nani, Cristiano Ronaldo; Helder Postiga (Eder, 16th). Air Force 1 Clearance Uk . A fully booked flight forced me to leave two hours later. After a nice meal in which I studied the stats of the Argo win, I prepared to leave the restaurant. As I was gathering my things to leave many large individuals began to walk up and wait for tables. Cheap Air Force 1 Shoes Wholesale . A wide-eyed 18-year-old visiting North America for only the second time in his young life, Caboclo immediately noticed the "big tower" his new home is best known for. http://www.cheapairforce1uksale.com/." Bach is in Rome for the European Olympic Committees general assembly and meetings with Pope Francis. He also visited with Italian Premier Enrico Letta. "The prime minister appeared to be interested in a bid from Italy for 24, because he has realized that the games can serve as a catalyst for development for a city and a country," Bach told The Associated Press on Saturday. Cheap Air Force 1 Uk . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet .com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A castoff in Buffalo, Andrej Sekera is proving to be a big contributor in Carolina. The Hurricanes defenceman scored the go-ahead goal with 10:10 remaining, and added two assists in a 5-3 win over the Sabres on Thursday night, in Sekeras first game against his former team. "You always have memories. I spent seven years here. Its a big part of my life," said Sekera, who was traded to Carolina in June after having difficulty earning a regular role in Buffalo. "At the end of the day, it was a business. I got traded. Im trying to help Carolina win every game. And every win feels good." Sekera is more than doing his part. The goal was his eighth of the season after he combined for 17 in 339 career games with the Sabres. And his two assists upped his points total to 28 -- tops among Carolina defencemen, and one short of his career high. "Its very possible he could be our MVP so far this year," Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said of Sekera. "From Day 1, until now, hes been our most consistent player." Alexander Semin scored twice to give him six goals in four games. Jeff Skinner and Jiri Tlusty, with an empty-netter, also scored in a game Carolina (22-19-9) overcame three one-goal deficits and improved to 8-3 in its past 11. Cody Hodgson, Tyler Ennis and Brian Flynn scored for Buffalo (13-29-7), which dropped to 0-3-2 in its past five games. Sabres captain Steve Ott was disappointed by how Buffalo let up against an opponent playing on consecutive nights, following Carolinas 3-2 win at Philadelphia. "You have a tired team that comes in and you should be the aggressor come the third period," Ott said. "I thought the first two were strong, but the third period I felt like they outworked us. And it shouldnt have been that way." The Sabres appeared to take control in the opening minute of the third period, when Ennis one-timed in a rebound from the left circle. The Hurricanes struck back by scoring twice over a 2:25 span. Semin tied it at the 7:25 mark. It was set up by captain Eric Staal, who out-muscled Sabres defenceman Henrik Tallinder for the puck behind the Buffalo net. Staal fed a pass into the lower right circle, from where Semin sneaked a shot that beat Jhonas Enroth on the short side.dddddddddddd Sekeras goal came as he worked the puck across the top and waited for an opening. With teammate Riley Nash parked in front, Sekera blasted a shot that sneaked in through Enroths legs. Hurricanes goalie Anton Khudobin then made sure the lead stood up in finishing with 26 saves. He got his left pad out to stop Ennis low shot with 50 seconds remaining. Khudobins best save came in the first period, when he stuck out his right pad to foil Zemgus Girgensons, who was in alone on a short-handed breakaway. "It was a great comeback," Khodobin said. "Even after they had the third goal right at the start of the third period, it didnt break us. Guys stuck with the plan." Carolina improved to 4-0-1 in its past five trips to Buffalo, and 8-1-2 in its past 11 meetings against the Sabres. Sekera got an opportunity to clarify what some Sabres fans perceived to be a disparaging comment he made about Buffalo in September. He was quoted as saying, "I think everything is better than Buffalo." Sekera said he was referring to the weather, not the city. "Definitely was taken out of context," he said. "I meant that every city is better than Buffalo weather-wise, not living-wise. I spent seven years here so I wont be burying any people in the organization. They brought me in this league. They made me the player I am right now." The weather in the northeast has affected the Hurricanes. Their game at Philadelphia was pushed back a day because of wintry weather. And Carolinas first scheduled game at Buffalo on Jan. 7 was postponed to Feb. 25 because of a blizzard. NOTES: The Sabres are starting to find their offence. They have scored three or more in regulation in each of their past five games for their best streak since doing that in eight straight games from March 19-April 3, 2012. ... Sabres C Phil Varone had an assist in making his NHL debut a day after being called up from AHL Rochester. ... Hurricanes LW Drayson Bowman returned after missing four games with a lower body injury. ' ' '