Marking his return to the Portugal team, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace, including a spectacular free-kick goal against Lichtenstein. Ronaldo’s performance in the match earned him plenty of plaudits. However, a video has now emerged on social media, suggesting the superstar forward could’ve instead had hat-trick instead of a brace. From the video that has surfaced on social media, it seems like Joao Cancelo’s opener actually should’ve been credited to Ronaldo as it was he who got the final touch on the ball before it went into the back of the net.
Cancelo was awarded with the opener in the 8th minute before Bernardo Silva doubled Portugal’s lead to 2-0 in the 47th minute. Ronaldo then struck twice in the 51st minute and 63rd to put Portugal 4-0 up.
The Bayern Munich defender’s shot took hit a Lichtenstein player before beating the goalkeeper but Ronaldo also seemed to have had the faintest of touches. However, the goal was credited to the former Manchester City man. Here’s the video:
Should this count as a Cristiano Ronaldo goal?
*Note: This was given as a Cancelo goal and UEFA haven’t given it to Ronaldo yet but if they do Ronaldo would end up having a hat-trick.
— The CR7 Timeline. (@TimelineCR7) March 23, 2023
Portugal’s new manager Roberto Martinez was full of praise for Ronaldo after seeing him perform the way he did on Thursday.
“It’s a new cycle. It’s important for a player to show commitment and that we can use his experience, and Cristiano shows that,” said Martinez.
“It was very, very positive,” Martinez told Portuguese television. “It was an obvious next step from the attitude and the work we did in training. It is always very difficult to play this type of game, they are ‘trap games’, but the way we played with the ball and how we smothered the danger of Liechtenstein was very important.”
Ronaldo, who now plays in Saudi Arabia for Al-Nassr would hope for a new lifeline under Martinez. However, how much firepower he has left in his belly, would be interesting to see.
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