Ronaldo: 'Goal accomplished'
"Two games, two wins. Goal accomplished. Glad to contribute to the team's very positive start. Let's go," Ronaldo wrote on Instagram after the 6-0 victory over Luxembourg in the first leg. two tables J on the evening of March 26.
In this match, Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 9th minute and then raised the gap to 4-0. 31. Three days earlier, he also scored twice in a 4-0 victory over Liechtenstein. The 38-year-old striker thus broke more records at the team level: number of matches (198 matches) and number of goals (122 goals).
Luxembourg is Ronaldo's favorite international opponent, scoring 11 goals in 11 matches. This is followed by Lithuania and Sweden (seven goals).
Yesterday, after scoring his first goal, Ronaldo "unveiled" a new type of celebration, combining a jump and chanting "Siuu" with placing his hands on his chest and closing his eyes. If the first action was too familiar and liked by Ronaldo since Real, the image of pretending to be asleep was shown in the final stage of playing for Man Utd. It is said to come from a joke of his former teammates, about him often taking short naps during the day to maintain health.
Currently, Portugal leads the group with six points in the Euro 2002 qualifiers. They are two points ahead of second-placed Slovakia. Meanwhile, Bosnia and Iceland have the same three points, Luxembourg one point and Liechtenstein none. The top two teams after 10 matches will win tickets to the final round in Germany next year.
These are also the first two matches of Roberto Martinez as Portugal coach. Former Belgium coach replaced Fernando Santos, who helped Portugal win Euro 2016, right after the 2022 World Cup.
Ronaldo's position once became uncertain. At the 2022 World Cup, he only scored one goal, even having to start on the bench in the 1/8 round and quarter-finals - where Portugal lost the "phenomenon" Morocco 0-1.
After taking office, coach Martinez went to Saudi Arabia to discuss with Ronaldo about continuing to contribute to the team. Contrary to his predecessor, he put more faith in the 38-year-old star. In the first two games, Martinez only launched young player Goncalo Ramos to replace Ronaldo in the second half.
