Tiktukno: summary of today's events in sports, 24.3 (Sport1)
Cristiano Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot and bombed a free kick as he set a new record yesterday (Thursday) and became the player with the most international games in Portugal's 0:4 victory over Liechtenstein in the opening of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. Ronaldo celebrated his 197th game in the national team's uniform, surpassing the previous record,
Bader Al-Mutawa from Kuwait.
He scored a penalty in the 51st minute against the tiny princess, when the host went up 0:3, and added the fourth with a beautiful free kick that made the crowd jump.
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Joao Cancelo put Portugal ahead in the eighth minute with a half-volley from distance, Bernardo Silva added the second 70 seconds into the second half.
Ronaldo, who turned 38 last month, increased his record, which was even before yesterday the record for goals in international football, and rose to 120 goals in Portugal's uniform.
As you may recall, Ronaldo was benched by former coach Fernando Santos for Portugal's last two matches at last year's World Cup in Qatar, where they lost in the quarter-finals to Morocco.
On the other hand, the new Portugal coach, Roberto Martinez, praised the positive influence of record breaker Ronaldo.
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Watch the recap of Portugal's victory
Summary: Portugal - Liechtenstein 0:4 (Sport1)
"It was very, very positive," said Martins about the victory, "it was the necessary step given the attitude and the work we did in training. It's always very difficult to play this kind of games, but the way we played with the ball and how we eliminated Liechtenstein was very important."
Martins, the former Belgium coach, did not change much in the squad compared to the one in Qatar.
"We started the first half well but then we relaxed a bit," said Martins.
"We need to grow in these games. The performance in the second half was much better. It was an opportunity to get three points, and more than that, for the players to get to know me and me them. It's always difficult when you have a lot of opposition players in front of the goal. You have to control your emotions, you Can't be too individual."
It's fun to see him smile.
Ronaldo (Photo: Reuters)
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Martinez brought Ronaldo back into the starting line-up and was happy with the 38-year-old's contribution.
"This is a new campaign. It is important for the player to show commitment and that we can use his experience, and Cristiano shows that," added the coach.
Ronaldo, who is recovering in terms of goals and stands at 11 goals in his last 11 games, just wrote at the end: "It feels so good to play again and score for our national team and in a special stadium for me. Proud to be the player with the most appearances ever."
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Cristiano Ronaldo
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