Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Portugal to defeat Switzerland 4:0 in the UEFA Nations League at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Portugal on Sunday, 5th June, 2022 by scoring a brace.
Ronaldo came from the bench in their first Nations league match against Spain, as Coach Fernando Santos wanted to rest him. Portugal were able to fight for a 1:1 draw against the Spanish. Going into the second match, they had no choice than to win against Switzerland in their home in order to position them well for a qualification into the next round.
Portugal won the maiden edition of the competition by defeating Netherlands in the finals. The Selecao are very determined to make an impressive performance in this year’s competition, and use it as a medium of preparation for the Qatar 2022 World Cup in November.
William Carvalho gave the Portuguese the lead in the 15th minute, and Ronaldo scored a double in the space of four minutes to give them a 3:0 lead in the first half. Ronaldo thought he had had his hat-trick but VAR ruled it out for an offside. Joao Cancelo scored the fourth in the 68th minute through Bernardo Silva’s wonderful assist. Portugal are now leading the table with four points as other group members, Spain and Czech Republic drew 2:2.
Ronaldo has scored in every competition he has participated in with Portugal since 2004. He is the player with the most goals in International Tournaments (30). The Portuguese captain has scored most goals in men’s international football history 117. Cristiano is also the all time top scorer in world football with 815 goals. His goal scoring instincts, and his desire to score more goals makes him stand out among his competitors.
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Coach Fernando Santos described Ronaldo’s performance after the game as the best. He insisted, it takes only a world best player to put up such a performance in a match and Ronaldo does that consistently.
The Portuguese national team currently boasts one of the youngest talented squads in World football. However, their inability to perform at the biggest stage seems to disappoint many. They mostly struggle to win a match without their skipper, Cristiano Ronaldo, and it is a major problem which needs to be rectified since Cristiano is nearing his retirement. He is 37 years old and he can not play forever or even consistently as he did in the past. Fernando Santos must find a way to motivate the players to play and give out their best even when there is no Cristiano.
Ronaldo’s team will face Czech Republic in their next round of group matches.
