After a long and difficult season for 36-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, some doubted whether he could succeed in providing the addition to his country, but after Portugal's 3-0 victory over Hungary at the start of its Euro 2020 campaign on Tuesday, the response came from the veteran scorer.
European champion Portugal entered the competition, which was postponed for one year, among the favorites to win the title, with a huge attacking force under the leadership of coach Fernando Santos.
Bruno Fernandes spent a fruitful season with Manchester United, and is already one of his club's most important players, Diogo Jota appeared strongly with Liverpool, and Bernardo Silva contributed influentially to Manchester City's victory in the
Premier League
title
.
Can't believe what I'm watching man.
Why didn't he pass to Ronaldopic.twitter.com/Jzjt2AZpPV
— Jerry (@CristianoStyle7) June 15, 2021
But with the Premier League trio failing to make their mark against Hungary in front of enthusiastic Budapest fans and the hosts' defense holding up, Portugal again needed an intervention from the captain.
Ronaldo was late in providing the required, but he did not disappoint his fans.
⚽️🥅 Ronaldo scores his 10th goal and continues to break records in the European Nations Championship, breaking the French Michel Platini's record as the historical top scorer for the tournament (note that Platini scored his 9 goals in one tournament at Euro 1984) # Hungary_Portugal |
#Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/4kySdJDirg
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) June 15, 2021
Today resulted in new records for Ronaldo, after successfully executing the penalty kick, and Portugal advanced 2-0 in the 87th minute, he became the first player in the history of the European Championship to reach 10 goals, before reaching the number 11 in stoppage time, to break the record of Michel Platini, who scored 9 goals, all of which came in the 1984 edition.
Le deuxième but de Cristiano Ronaldo, qui intervient après une belle séquence de possession.
🥰🇵🇹pic.twitter.com/w2ucPuB1Q7
— Trivela 🇵🇹 (@Trivela_FR) June 15, 2021
Nevertheless, it seemed that the Juventus striker would suffer from a frustrating night, as he missed an easy opportunity in the first half to open the scoring, with his teammates lacking focus and decisiveness as well in front of goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo misses the opportunity to open the scoring 😲#Hungary_Portugal |
#Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/n1wKlpxrZK
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) June 15, 2021
With this match, Jota has scored one goal in the last 11 matches with his club and country and was substituted in the second half, as it seems that he is still affected by his absence for long periods due to injury.
sheeeshhh RONALDO pic.twitter.com/UzK1V0wTfh
— ᴄᴏᴄᴀᴄᴏʟᴀఌ (@CoCaFortnite) June 15, 2021
But after Portugal were lucky to advance with a goal 6 minutes before the end, Ronaldo scored from a penalty kick, and then added the third goal after 177 seconds with individual skill.
And the way Ronaldo kept calm before he dribbled the Hungarian goalkeeper - before scoring his second personal goal - that even if he was not at his best and effective in front of goal, he is decisive when needed.
Ronaldo raised his score to 106 international goals, 3 goals behind the record of Iranian Ali Daei.
Ronaldo still has the desire to achieve more records, and after the promising start of the tournament, many will expect the Portuguese striker to surpass Daei's record and add more achievements to his amazing record before the end of the European Championship 2020.