Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday scored once in Portugal’s 7-0 rout of Andorra in a friendly, moving a step closer to becoming the all-time top scorer for a national team.
Ronaldo reached 102 goals with Portugal to sit seven shy of the 109 scored by former Iran striker Ali Daei, the only other male soccer player to surpass the 100-goal milestone for a national team.
Ronaldo broke the century mark after scoring twice in Portugal’s UEFA Nations League win over Sweden last month.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Coming off a minor knee injury and having been sidelined by a positive COVID-19 result, Ronaldo entered the match after halftime at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. He made it 6-0 with a close-range header in the 85th minute after having squandered a few good opportunities.
He had replaced Pedro Neto, the 20-year-old Wolverhampton Wanderers forward who was making his national team debut and opened the scoring for Portugal in the eighth minute.
Paulinho, who was also making his Portugal debut, added to the lead in the 29th minute and Renato Sanches scored in the 56th.
Paulinho scored again in the 61st minute, and an own-goal by Andorra’s Emili Garcia in the 76th made it 5-0. Joao Felix closed the scoring in the final minutes.
Portugal also had a goal disallowed by an offside in the 71st minute.
“It was what we expected,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said. “We faced a very defensive team and we had to be patient.”
Barcelona forward Francisco Trincao started up front and was flanked by Neto and Paulinho. Santos also handed a debut to central defender Domingos Duarte.
“We wanted to give minutes to players, let them pick up some rhythm,” Santos said.
Portugal host France tomorrow in the Nations League, then visit Croatia on Tuesday. They trail Group B leader Ukraine by three points entering their final two matches in the European competition.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care