There is only one Cristiano Ronaldo and as the veteran was making his debut for Portugal in the Nations League at 34, he proves once again with his glorious hat-trick that when the match is on the line, there is still nobody to touch him.
Portugal manager Fernando Santos described Ronaldo as “a genius” as they blasted to the finals with the victory over Switzerland at the Estadio do Dragao. The Juventus superstar has not played for the Selecao since they were ousted at 2018 World Cup, Russia and he made a mesmerizing return on behalf of thousands of supporters.
Ronaldo opened his account in the 25th minute with an exquisite free-kick that flew into the bottom-right corner, wrong-footing Swiss keeper Yann Sommer.
Switzerland leveled in the second period as Ricardo Rodriguez equalized to put the Swiss back in the match. The hosts struggled to build any rhythm as the game appeared to drift towards extra-time. But in the 88th minute, Ronaldo made the crucial difference, sweeping Bernardo Silva’s cross into the corner of the net, before firing into the net again 102 seconds later.
Cristiano Ronaldo proved once again to be an absolute genius, a flawed human, but if you want a big-time player for a big game, no-one has ever come close to him!
