Cristiano Ronaldo shines as Portugal rout Poland 5-1 to reach Nations League last eight
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Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with teammates after scoring their fifth goal in a 5-1 rout of Poland.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PORTO – Portugal recovered from a “very bad” first half to seal a Nations League quarter-final berth, after a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty and overhead kick helped them hammer visiting Poland 5-1 in Group A1 on Nov 15.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock just before the hour with a header before Ronaldo doubled the lead from the spot in the 72nd minute with a confident strike down the middle of the goal.
The hosts then scored three goals in seven minutes through Bruno Fernandes, Pedro Neto and Ronaldo’s clever strike. Dominik Marczuk got a consolation for Poland in the 88th minute.
“The first half was very bad for what we wanted to do. We lost focus and got frustrated,” said Portugal coach Roberto Martinez.
“But the second half was the best I’ve seen. We’ve changed the mentality, and increased the intensity and mutual support. We didn’t let Poland play.”
Forward Leao added: “We couldn’t impose ourselves on the game in the first half. Roberto Martinez’s approach in the locker room was important, it was the key to changing the pressure at half-time.”
Unbeaten Portugal top the group with 13 points, six ahead of Croatia, who lost 1-0 at Scotland. The Scots are still bottom but are now level on four points with third-placed Poland.
Poland host Scotland on the final matchday on Nov 18, when Portugal travel to Croatia.
Portugal, who snapped Poland’s two-year unbeaten home run when they won the reverse fixture 3-1 in Warsaw in October, had trouble taming the visitors in the first half.
Poland were without their all-time top scorer Robert Lewandowski, who is sidelined with a back injury, but were quick to create danger and had three attempts on target before the break compared to none by the hosts.
Bartosz Bereszynski was close to opening the scoring in the 12th minute, but Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa was in the right spot to catch his header before he had to stretch to deny Nicola Zalewski’s powerful shot from the edge of the box.
Leao and Ronaldo sent good chances over the bar just before the break, before the tables turned for Portugal after the restart. Clearly fired up, the hosts dominated possession.
Leao recovered the ball inside their own box and raced through the pitch to find Nuno Mendes on the left flank. The defender then set up Leao with a perfect lofted pass.
Portugal were then awarded a penalty for a handball, expertly converted by the 39-year-old Ronaldo, as they continued growing in strength. Fernandes struck from distance to make it 3-0 when the ball bounced in off the inside of the bar.
Neto added another in the 83rd minute, scoring inside the near post, before Ronaldo netted his 135th goal for the national side with an acrobatic finish in the 87th minute.
Distraught Poland pulled a late goal back through half-time substitute Marczuk, who scored his first international goal.
Said Poland coach Michal Probierz: “I’ve been a coach for 20-something years and I’ve rarely experienced circumstances like today. We controlled the game in the first half and created chances, it’s just a shame we didn’t score.”
The 2019 winners Portugal, who dropped their first points last time out when they were held to a goal-less draw in Scotland on Oct 15, secured a fourth successive top-two finish in the competition. REUTERS
