On March 25, Beijing time, the semi-finals of the European Play-offs of the World Preliminary Round, Portugal eliminated Turkey 3-1 and reached the final. Cristiano Ronaldo started, scored no goals, hit the crossbar, but Otavio and Jota helped him keep going.
In the group stage of the qualifiers, Portugal ranked second, failed to qualify directly, and could only participate in the play-offs. In the semi-finals, they encountered the strong European powerhouse Turkey, if they lose, it will directly declare that they have not qualified for the World Cup finals!
At the critical moment, captain C Ronaldo is needed to step forward. He has saved the team twice in the play-offs, the first time in the 2011 European Preliminary Round, and the second leg was a two-time elimination of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The second was the 2013 World Cup, where he scored one goal in the first leg and scored a hat-trick in the second leg, eliminating Sweden led by Ibrahimovic.
This match is Ronaldo's 185th national team A match for Portugal, and he has become the third most appearance in history for the national team, behind Malaysia's Su Jin'an (195 games) and Kuwait's Mutawa (190 games).
At the beginning of the game, C Luo collided with Selik's head while scrambling for the top. In the 9th minute, Dalot's cross from the right was met by a right-footed blast from inside the penalty area! In the 12th minute, the president fired a left-footed long-range shot from outside the perimeter that was too positive.
In the 16th minute, B's long-range shot at the neutral post, Otavio's supplementary shot broke the deadlock for Portugal, 1-0! In the 42nd minute, Otavio's cross was met by Jota's header, 2-0!
Although Ilmaz pulled a goal back, he actually missed a penalty at a crucial moment and missed the equalizer! In the 94th minute, Nunes scored a goal to seal the win once and for all! In the end, Portugal won 3-1 and advanced to the final of the play-offs.
In the whole game, C Ronaldo shot 5 times, pushed the neutral post in the last moment, and had bad luck! Shot 2 times, only 1 successful dribble, did not send a key pass, and relied on the excellent performance of his teammates to reach the final. And in the play-off final against North Macedonia, as the king of football's historical goalscoring and the national team's historical top scorer, the president should have exploded!