Cristiano Ronaldo scores another hat-trick in World Cup qualifier
Last night,Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in Portugal’s 5-0 victory over Luxembourg in World Cup qualifying Group A. He thus brings his total to 115 international goals, which gives him six lengths ahead of former Iranian striker Ali Daei and 35 over Lionel Messiwho scored his 80th goal for Argentina this weekend.
At the same time as he extended one record, Ronaldo established another: he became the first man to score 10 hat-tricks in international football.
“I promised I would always look for more, always more, always more!” wrote Ronaldo on Instagram after the game. “It’s in my and our DNA, we will never settle, we will never give up and we will always fight for everything we can achieve! Go Portugal!”
With this hat-trick, the 36-year-old brings to 58 the number of hat-tricks he has scored for club and country, and as is often the case, he benefited from a penalty.
Ronaldo opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the seventh minute, scoring in the middle of the field after a foul on Bernardo Silva.
A few minutes later, the Manchester United striker was about to take his second penalty of the match, but he dusted himself off after being pushed away by Luxembourg goalkeeper Anthony Moris.
The referee orders Ronaldo to replay his second successful penalty for encroachment, but he comfortably extends Portugal’s lead to two on his second attempt.
Manchester United teammate Bruno Fernandes added a third goal just before the 18th minute as Portugal threatened to widen the lead, but Luxembourg held on to keep the margin at three until Joao Palhinha header from a corner midway through the second half.
The Sporting midfielder celebrated his goal with an ode to Ronaldo’s signature “Siuuuu” jump – a tribute Ronaldo would no doubt have appreciated more than the one d’Andros Townsend after his equalizer against United two weeks ago.
Four minutes from the end of normal time, the original creator took over the action, celebrating in his usual style with his hat-trick with a point-blank header.
This victory allows Portugal to move back to within one point of Group A leader Serbia with a game in hand. Both teams hold an unattainable lead over the rest of the group and will face each other in their final qualifying match.
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Source: edition.cnn.com
2023-12-24 00:52:08
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