PORTO, Portugal (REUTERS) - Evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, including two late goals, to give Portugal a 3-1 win over Switzerland in a Nations League semi-final featuring an extraordinary VAR incident on Wednesday (June 5).
Ronaldo blasted Portugal ahead from a free kick in the 25th minute, his first goal for his country for nearly a year, but the Swiss equalised with a penalty after halftime which will raise more questions over the use of the VAR system.
After a largely anonymous second half, Ronaldo suddenly sprang to life to by scoring twice in the last three minutes to complete the 53rd hat-trick of his career and the seventh for his country, showing that even at 34 he is always a threat.
His goals - his first for his country since last year's World Cup in Russia - rescued Portugal after the Swiss had dominated for the final half hour and threatened to snatch a shock win.
"There's no adjective to describe him," said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.
"He's a genius. You can be a genius in art, and in sculpture and he is a football genius."
"It was an intense match, very hard-fought, against a very well-organised Swiss team," he added.
Swiss coach Vladimir Petkovic was left to rue a missed opportunity.
"We had the chance to get a second but didn't take it. We got outnumbered at the back and conceded. Their top player made the difference," he said.
Switzerland created some early openings while Ronaldo missed a good early chance for Portugal when he dragged his shot wide after the Swiss gave away possession in defence.
But there was no mistake in the 25th minute when he went down under a challenge from Kevin Mbabu on the edge of the area, got up and sent his free kick fizzing past a wrong-footed Sommer and into the net.
Switzerland got back into the match in extraordinary circumstances after halftime Swiss midfielder Steven Zuber went down under a challenge from Nelson Semedo as he ran onto Xherdan Shaqiri's through ball and appealed for a penalty but play continued.
Portugal then went straight down the other end and were awarded a penalty for a foul on Silva.
The referee, after consulting the video assistant, then decided to review the Swiss incident on the pitchside monitor and awarded them the spot kick.
The incident seemed to unsettle Portugal and the Swiss took control with Shaqiri, looking to make an impression after getting limited playing time for Liverpool this season, at the centre of their best moves.
Steven Zuber and Haris Seferovic both missed chances and the Swiss were then destroyed by Ronaldo at his most deadly Bernardo Silva produced a low cross from the right and Ronaldo swept the ball home with his first touch to rescue his side in the 88th minute.
Two minutes later, he collected the ball on the counter-attack, twisted past his marker and curled the ball into the far corner for his 88th international goal in 157 appearances.
There was never any question that Queen stood to benefit from the release of Bohemian Rhapsody, whether the film was a flop or a phenomenon, Queen would surely make out. Even still, BoRhap's box office and awards season success went far beyond anyone's expectations for a music biopic.
๐ฐ๐ด๐จ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฌ. ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ. - ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ข. A QUEEN IN THE MAKING - Wattpad
Berlin - Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund have insisted Chelsea-target Christian Pulisic will not be allowed to leave in the January transfer window. According to British media reports
Pulisic Not for Sale in January, Says Dortmund Chief
Tottenham Hotspur date for Singapore, Football News & Top
England soccer captain Harry Kane received the MBE award on Thursday for services to football after leading the national team to the World Cup semi-final in Russia last Summer. Prince William, the
England soccer captain Kane honoured at Buckingham Palace
Define brawn. brawn synonyms, brawn pronunciation, brawn translation, English dictionary definition of brawn. (inf); he's all brawn and no brains → (er hat
What does brain is better than brawn mean? | Yahoo Answers
North Korea PANIC: Kim sends right-hand man for EMERGENCY US summit talks NORTH Korea is scrambling to save next month's historic summit with the US, with Kim Jong-un sending his right-hand man
Paulinho squeezes Guangzhou into last 16, super-sub
Egypt international Mohamed Salah has crowned a memorable 2018 year by collecting the CAF Player of the Year award for the second year in a row.. Salah made the final three-man shortlist for this year's African Player of the Year award alongside Senegal's Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon.
Salah retains African award to seal great day for Egypt
English Premier League Alex Iwobi, Alexandre Lacazette lead Arsenal to win at Huddersfield. Arsenal had suffered four defeats in their last nine league games, including a 3-1 loss at Manchester City last week, but Alex Iwobi put them ahead in the 16th minute with a deflected shot.
Football: Iwobi, Lacazette lead Arsenal to win at Huddersfield
Burnley made a big step towards securing Premier League survival after coming back from a goal down to beat Bournemouth 3-1 away as their striker Ashley Barnes scored at both ends in an action
Football: Impressive Burnley fight back to beat Bournemouth 3
ARSENAL and Mesut Ozil have been accused of giving up against Manchester City and lacking the mental strength to challenge for the top four. Bernardo Silva blasted their hunger when
Tottenham's starting XI the youngest Premier League team this
LONDON (AFP) - Jurgen Klopp refused to get carried away with the growing expectation that Liverpool can lift the league title for the first time in 29 years saying his players must stay focussed
Delighted Jurgen Klopp Tells Players To Stay Focused
0 comments:
Post a Comment