Cristiano Ronaldo has not been in a great form off late with Juventus but has scored 13 goals in his last 7 appearances for Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for the home team in the seventh minute from the penalty spot. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)
Cristiano Ronaldo netted his ninth international treble as Portugal thrashed Lithuania 6-0 in Group B match of UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers at the Estadio Algarve on Thursday night.
With the win, Portugal have now moved to the brink of a confirmed spot in next year’s perennial tournament. The reigning European champions could have qualified yesterday itself, but a fighting 3-2 win of Serbia over Luxembourg kept Portugal’s hopes waiting.
Ronaldo opened the scoring for the home team in the seventh minute from the penalty spot and followed it up with curling effort into the top corner of Lithuanian net in the 22nd minute.
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Benfica midfielder Pizzi scored the third of the match within seven minutes after the break. Eintracht Frankfurt striker Goncalo Paciencia and Manchester City forward Bernardo Silva extended the lead to 5-0 in another 15 minutes or so.
🇵🇹 Pizzi ⚽️
🇵🇹 Gonçalo Paciência ⚽️
🇵🇹 Bernardo Silva ⚽️#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/PwUKUbZvJT— UEFA EURO 2020 (@UEFAEURO) November 14, 2019
The hosts did not seem to pay any heed to the visitors’ frustration as Ronaldo put the final nail in the Lithuanian coffin when he scored his team’s sixth and his third of the night.
An open space in the opponents’ area gave the Juventus forward the freedom to score his 55th career hat-trick. He now has 98 international goals and could become the second footballer to cross the 100 mark. He is now 11 goals away from Iranian Ali Daei who holds the record for most international goals.
Ronaldo has not been in a great form off late with his Italian club. Much was talked about when he was substituted by Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri in the 55th minute of his last Serie A game against AC Milan.
However, the 34-year-old has shown a great goal-scoring form in the national colours and has netted 13 times in his last seven appearances for Portugal.
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