Ronaldo broke down in tears again. But now, after a unique professional achievement. Video
Georgy Ilyushchenko September 5, 2024, 23:55 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
900 professional goals. Unbelievable.
Portugal faced Croatia in the Nations League. And in the competition between the Ballon d’Or winners, Cristiano Ronaldo was more successful than Luka Modric.
Before kick-off, the Portuguese gave Pepe a triumphant farewell on his retirement from football. Another veteran, Cristiano Ronaldo, has no plans to finish off. And he started. Of course, with the captain’s armband. Like Luka Modric for Croatia. This is truly a match of nostalgia for Real Madrid fans.
The Croatians immediately lined up with five defenders and did not press at all. Apparently, before the match we went to the bus station and got inspired. The Portuguese were able to calmly combine and quickly took advantage of it: in the sixth minute, Dominik Livakovic saved Bruno Fernandes’ shot, and in the next attack no one could hold the centre-forward Dalo, who was in his place: Diogo was just happy and clearly finished between the goalkeeper’s legs. Fernandes himself scored a great assist: somewhere in Manchester at that moment, Erik ten Hag burst into tears of pride.
Croatia, of course, launched counterattacks and responded. I even earned a few corners. Modric, for example, had an interesting shot from distance, and Diogo Costa saved Andrei Kramaric’s treacherous shot. But Portugal was already leading the score and did not force things: they controlled the ball more and organised chances. Cristiano himself played with Rafael Leau, received a pass with his back heel and hit it hard into the near corner – Livakovic did not make a mistake.
In the 34th minute, no one could stop Ronaldo. Nuno Mendes served: Krish broke away from his opponents and calmly made contact. This is already the 900th (!) goal of his career: 450 with Real, 145 with Manchester United, 130 with the national team, 101 with Juventus, 69 with Al-Nasr and five with Sporting. Let’s shout together: “Yessssss!” Do you think he will reach a thousand? Write in the comments!
Okay, wouldn’t it be so much fun if the match ended with just one goal? Then Dalo thought the same, correcting a cross from Borna Sosa towards his own goal. It’s so boring to score only against strangers.
Pedro Neto responded immediately: he ran into the penalty area and hit the crossbar. So instead of 3:0 it turned out to be 2:1. Although based on the game, the Croatians did not deserve to lose. As they used to say in my childhood, “the truth has come true.”
In the second half, Croatia created several interesting plays. And yet, Portugal looked stronger: if it weren’t for Livakovic, Mendes and Ronaldo would have increased the lead.
The Croatians are no longer the same players who won silver at the 2018 World Cup and bronze at the 2022 World Cup: the older generation has aged, the new generation has not yet reached the highest level. There are still no alternatives to the stars of the past. The Portuguese have always had and still have high-quality footballers. And the eternal Cristiano. He, of course, is not the same as before either, but he has been aging for a long time. He will turn 40 in February.
