By finding the net twice after João Félix opened the scoring in the 18th minute, the 39-year-old five-time Ballon d’Or winner confirmed his intentions to shine at the European Championship in Germany, which will be his 11th major international tournament.
“It doesn’t matter who scores the goals, the objective was to win the game to give the team confidence”, declared Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of the match.
“Given the expectations of the Portuguese, the margin for error is zero. Seeing this generation and the talent of its players, it is normal for them to want the team to always win,” he added. “It’s good to have your feet on the ground, but your thoughts in the sky”, continued the Portuguese.
Portugal, which under the command of Spanish coach Roberto Martínez won all of its European Championship qualifying matches, with 36 goals scored and only two conceded, has been giving minutes to less used players and testing tactical alternatives in the last few rounds.
Without the captain, who only arrived last Friday in the preparation phase for the continental tournament, the Portuguese team won the first friendly, against Finland (4-2), last Tuesday, and then lost on Saturday to Luka Modric’s Croatia (2-1).
Portugal will make its European Championship debut on July 18, against the Czech Republic, before facing Turkey and Georgia, in Group F.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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