Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates Portugal's historic Nations League triumph in latest social media post
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated the anniversary of Portugal's UEFA Nations League victory in a passionate social media today. The Portuguese superstar led his country to an emphatic victory in the inaugural edition of the tournament and was one of his country's best players.
The UEFA Nations League was a league tournament started by UEFA in 2019 to streamline the schedule for friendlies played by European nations and give context to international fixtures.
Cristiano Ronaldo led his talented Portuguese side through a group that had tough opposition in Italy and Poland. The final of the 2019 UEFA took place on this day in 2019 and a Goncalo Guedes goal crowned Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo as the first winners of UEFA's experimental competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo revels in Portugal's success in the UEFA Nations League
Cristiano Ronaldo continues to be Portugal's talisman and has several crucial performances to his name with his country. The legendary forward struggled to establish fruitful partnerships with his compatriots at the start of his career with the national team. With a severe lack of support in the final third, Cristiano Ronaldo often struggled to make things happen the final third in the past.
The presence of Bernardo Silva, Goncalo Guedes, and Joao Felix in the Portuguese lineup today, however, makes Cristiano Ronaldo's side one of the most lethal attacking forces in Europe.
Portugal topped its group in the 2019 UEFA Nations League with 8 points and pipped both Italy and Poland to reach the knockout stages of the competition. Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score in the group stages but more than made up for it in the later phases of the competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the star of the show in the semi-final against Switzerland. The Juventus superstar netted a sensational hat-trick to demolish the Swiss national team and propel Portugal into an exciting final against the Netherlands.
The Netherlands of 2019 was an intimidating side that took inspiration from the Ajax juggernaut that took Europe by storm last year. The Oranje was the clear favourite in the match but with a front three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Goncalo Guedes, and Bernardo Silva, Portugal was an intimidating force.
Cristiano Ronaldo held his own against the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Matthijs de Ligt but failed to get on the scoresheet. His compatriot Goncalo Guedes saved the day for Portugal with a thunderous strike in the 60th minute to give Cristiano Ronaldo his second international trophy.
Cristiano Ronaldo also led Portugal to a successful UEFA Euro title in 2016. The prolific forward was instrumental to his country's success and scored three goals in the tournament.
The Nations League victory was Cristiano Ronaldo's second trophy with his country in three years. With an astonishing 88 goals, Cristiano Ronaldo is Portugal's greatest goalscorer of all time and is still going strong with his country.
The 35-year-old Juventus talisman is getting stronger by the day and may play for Portugal for years to come.