Cristiano Ronaldo was in inspired form at the Estadio do Dragao on Friday night as Portugal held on for a 3-2 win over Slovakia to book their place in next year’s UEFA European Championship, slated for Germany.
The 38-year-old Al-Nassr forward scored a brace for Roberto Martinez’s side to take his international tally to 125 goals amid a serious downpour at FC Porto’s ground.
ESTAMOS NO EUROPEU! ???? #VesteABandeira
Adere ao Portugal+ para saberes tudo sobre bilhetes para o Euro: https://t.co/8aJKQNXIWQ
QUALIFIED FOR THE EURO! ???? #WearTheFlag pic.twitter.com/FTKDTyZ8ea
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) October 13, 2023
Paris Saint-Germain forward Goncalo Ramos opened the scoring in the 18th minute for the Selecao with a thumping off a brilliant cross from Bruno Fernandes for his seventh goal in nine games for the European powerhouse.
Ronaldo made it two with a spot kick 11 minutes later after Copenhagen defender Denis Vavro handled the ball in his box. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid man sent Martin Dubravka the wrong way for his 124th strike in the Portuguese colors.
David Hancko halved the deficit for the visitors in the 69th minute after a double deflection left Portugal’s goalie, Diogo Costa, in no man’s land.
However, Ronaldo restored his side’s two-goal advantage three minutes later with the simplest of tap-ins from a sublime pass from Fernandes, who registered his second assist of the game.
Napoli midfielder Stanislav Lobotka pulled one back again for Slovakia with the best goal of the game, sending in a thunderous strike past Costa and into the top corner.
Portugal held on for the win, and Ronaldo improved his career tally to 857 goals as the 2016 European champions secured a berth in next year’s tournament, which may see the Selecao’s all-time top scorer become the first player to play at six different editions of the EUROS, having made his debut in 2004.
Martinez’s men maintain their unblemished record in the group with 21 points from seven games, and they will face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday, October 16.
