Tuesday, 11 June, 2024
McCreadie Andias
Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Portugal to a comfortable 3-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland in their final friendly before the UEFA European Championship, marking just their second win in four games and first clean sheet in five.
As expected, Portugal dominated early proceedings and had the ball in the net through João Félix only for the goal to be ruled out for a Ronaldo offside in the build-up.
After a fine save from Caoimhín Kelleher denied him, it was third-time lucky for Félix as he finally scored Portugal’s opener, latching onto Bruno Fernandes’ pass following a corner routine to fire home his eighth international goal with his weaker left foot.
The Seleção’s record scorer Ronaldo almost doubled their lead minutes later, only for his deflected free-kick to strike the post. Fernandes and Rafael Leão also curled just wide before Gonçalo Inácio headed the former’s teasing crossover.
Ronaldo also forced Kelleher into a late stop, as Ireland were largely on the back foot. They did create one decent chance before HT though, as Adam Idah struck into the side-netting after some nervy Portugal defending.
Rúben Neves was one of five changes made by Roberto Martínez at the start of the second half, and he fed Ronaldo, who in typical fashion performed a stepover on the edge of the box before unleashing an unstoppable effort into the top corner – his 129th goal for Portugal.
That became 130 on the hour mark as he tapped home another substitute Diogo Jota’s incisive pass.
After Fernandes stung Kelleher’s palms, Ronaldo almost netted his 66th career hat-trick by cleverly moving back from an offside position to strike just wide of the post, as Portugal continued to shine going forward. However, perhaps the most pleasing aspect was that they also managed to keep a clean sheet, having conceded twice in each of their prior four matches.
Nonetheless, the Seleção will gain immense confidence from this performance going into the Euros, while interim Ireland boss John O’Shea knows he still has a lot of work to do moving forward.