The substitute dived in to head home with just seconds remaining to deny America back to back victories
A 95th minute equaliser from Silvestre Varela saw Portugal salvage a 2-2 draw with USA and deny Jurgen Klinsmann’s men immediate qualification to the last-16.
The USA had come from behind to lead 2-1 on Sunday and looked to have put an end to Portugal’s World Cup campaign, before Cristiano Ronalo got free on the right in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time and picked out Varela, who powered a header past Tim Howard.
An early goal from Luis Nani saw Portugal respond well to their demoralising 4-0 loss to Germany last week, but second-half strikes from Jermaine Jones and captain Clint Dempsey put the USA in front and on the verge of the last-16.
But Varela’s late header ensured the top two positions in Group G remain up for grabs with Germany (four points) on top, level with the USA, while Ghana and Portugal both have slim chances of advancing with one point each.
Despite speculation that a knee injury would keep him out of Portugal’s line-up, Ronaldo started, while Helder Postiga, Ricardo Costa, Andre Almeida and Beto replaced the unavailable quartet of Hugo Almeida (thigh), Pepe (suspension), Fabio Coentrao (groin) and Rui Patricio (thigh).
Klinsmann picked Graham Zusi to replace the injured Jozy Altidore (hamstring), with the Sporting Kansas City midfielder lining up on the left and Dempsey moving into a lone striker’s role.
The match started horribly for USA with Nani opening the scoring in just the fifth minute.