Even at 39, he’s inevitable. With only a few minutes left in the game against Scotland, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a key goal to give Portugal a late victory on Matchday 2 of the 2024 UEFA Nations League.
88 minutes into the game, the Al Nassr superstar came up clutch by capitalizing on a great cross from Nuno Mendes to send fans at Estadio Da Luz into a frenzy. That makes it two goals in two games for Ronaldo in this Nations League.
But more importantly, his goals proved crucial for Portugal to get off to a perfect start to the competition. Last week, Cristiano’s goal against Croatia made the difference for a 2-1 win.
This time, he showed up just in time to let his side pick up all three points once again. Thanks to Ronaldo, Portugal finish the September international break atop Group 1 of the League A with six points, three clear of Croatia and Poland, while Scotland are bottom with zero points.
Ronaldo comes off the bench to save the night for Portugal vs Scotland
Ronaldo started on the bench for Portugal against Scotland, but coach Roberto Martinez always planned to send him in at some point in the second half. In fact, Cristiano took the field at the start of the second half.
“Cristiano is our leader and he knows that it is very important to have a player like him to finish the game,” Martinez said before the game, and even though it was risky, his decision paid off as Ronaldo let Portugal finish the match strongly.
After the game, Martinez explained his decision to bench Ronaldo: “Cristiano can’t play two 90-minute games. We needed to have him at the end of the game and not from the start.”
The outlook wasn’t great when he came on, with Portugal trailing 1-0 as Ronaldo’s former Manchester United teammate Scott McTominay gave Scotland the lead only seven minutes into the game.
Therefore, Cristiano’s entry was exactly what Portugal needed to turn things around. Bruno Fernandes made things level with a beautiful shot after 54′, paving the way for Ronaldo’s heroic winner.
Cristiano Ronaldo looking for 1000 goals
The 5x Ballon d’Or winner is already on his way to pursuing a historic 1000th career goal. CR7 is now 99 goals away from that milestone, and even though he’s not getting any younger, the striker will try and continue defying Father Time for as long as he can.