Twitter erupts as Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes inspire Portugal to 4-0 win over Israel
Cristiano Ronaldo got on the scoresheet and Bruno Fernandes scored a brace as Portugal completely dominated proceedings against Israel. Portugal were dominant right from the start and created plenty of openings.
Bruno Fernandes dictated play from midfield and was Portugal's best player on the night. The Manchester United star opened the scoring in the 42nd minute when he ran onto an excellent cut-back by the impressive Joao Cancelo.
Cristiano Ronaldo soon made it 2 for Portugal in the 44th minute. Bruno Fernandes was once again heavily involved and he played an incisive pass through to Cristiano Ronaldo who buried the chance with a powerful left-footed shot.
The goal took Cristiano Ronaldo's tally to 104 goals for Portugal. He is now just 5 goals behind all-time top international goalscorer Ali Daei and will be looking to break the record at Euro 2020.
The second half saw a string of changes made by both sides. Cristiano Ronaldo was taken off for a well deserved rest in the 72nd minute as Portugal manager Fernando Santos gave opportunities to the likes of Goncalo Guedes and Renato Sanches to get some minutes under their belt.
Although the game lost a bit of its flow following the many substitutions, Portugal had a late flurry as Joao Cancelo and Bruno Fernandes scored excellent goals to add gloss to the scoreline.
With stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Joao Cancelo looking in good form, Portugal will be confident of a good run at Euro 2020. However, they are in the 'group of death' with France, Germany, and Hungary and Fernando Santos will know the enormity of the task facing his men.
Speaking after full time to RTP, the Portugal manager demanded even more from his players:
“The first part, not being extraordinary, was good. We did very well in the first 20 minutes, with great intensity in the various moments of play, circulating the ball well and looking for the flanks.
"Then we had a quarter of an hour with less [urgency], but we accelerated towards the end and ended up scoring two goals."
He added: "In the second I changed things a little, I tried to put one more man next to Ronaldo and two midfielders coming in from the inside, but it didn't work. We started to miss a lot of passes and the ball circulation was not so good. There are many things to improve, certainly.
"Now let's rest and calmly prepare for the Euros. This team has a huge will and an excellent team spirit."
Portugal have one of the best squads at Euro 2020 and the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes will be determined to guide their country to the latter stages of the tournament.
Without further ado, let us take a look at:
Best Tweets from Portugal 4-0 Israel
Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring record for Portugal is absolutely incredible
Also read: Jim Beglin's Strongest possible starting XI for England | Euro 2020