"Undefeated on the way to the quarterfinals!" - Cristiano Ronaldo reacts on social media after starring for Portugal in win over Poland
Cristiano Ronaldo took to social media to celebrate Portugal's qualification to the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals after a 5-1 win over Poland. The Portuguese captain scored a brace in the match at the Estadio do Dragao on Friday, November 15.
Following a goalless first half, Rafael Leao netted the opening goal for Portugal in the 59th minute. The hosts were awarded a penalty for a handball, which Ronaldo successfully converted in the 72nd minute. Bruno Fernandes netted the third goal for A Selecao in the 80th minute followed by Pedro Neto's goal with Ronaldo’s assist just three minutes later.
The 39-year-old superstar forward completed his brace with a bicycle kick in the 87th minute. Poland, meanwhile, scored their only goal through Dominik Marczuk in the 88th minute.
After reaching 910 career goals in Portugal's win over Poland, Cristiano Ronaldo posted on social media celebrating the A Selecao advancing to the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner wrote:
"Undefeated on the way to the quarterfinals!💪🏼"
The Portuguese icon made 54 touches and two key passes while maintaining a pass accuracy of 82 percent in the UEFA Nations League clash.
Since making his senior debut for Portugal in 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo has registered 135 goals and 45 assists in 215 appearances.
Cristiano Ronaldo on Portugal's 5-0 win over Poland in the UEFA Nations League
Cristiano Ronaldo opined on Portugal's performance in their 5-0 win over Poland in the UEFA Nations League. The Al-Nassr superstar claimed A Selecao have identified and worked on their mistakes from Euro 2024, where France eliminated them in the quarter-finals.
He said via The CR7 Timeline:
"We always learn from mistakes, in my opinion we had a good Euro, we lost on penalties to France I think we are not used to it, today we started badly but then we corrected it and it has to be like that. I am here to help and offer my expertise in terms of goals and in other aspects as well."
Sharing his opinion on the match, Ronaldo said:
"The first half wasn't good, we came into the game a bit late from my point of view, all of us. But the second half was amazing. We came into the game with good dynamics, we managed to score goals and secure qualification in first place. That's what we wanted. We knew that Croatia were 0-0 and playing with ten men, and of course I'm happy to score two goals."
"More aggressiveness, the fact that we played faster. The coach also changed a technical aspect, but I think it was our dynamic in the game. But also a very clear detail, we stopped talking to the referee, all of us, me especially. We were very worried about the referee's decisions and in the second half we didn't even show him a card," added Ronaldo.
Minutes before the end of the first half, Cristiano Ronaldo was shown a yellow card over an apparent argument with the referee about a potential penalty that was not awarded.