Cristiano Ronaldo once again proved age is just a number as the 39-year-old scored two goals, including a bicycle kick, in Portugal’s 5-1 win over Poland in a Nations League match on Saturday. With this win, Portugal joined Italy, France, Germany and Spain in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Both teams struggled to break the deadlock in the first half before Rafael Leao gave Portugal the lead in the 59th minute. Ronaldo got his name on the scoresheet three minutes later from a penalty after Jakub Kiwior handled the ball inside the box.
Ronaldo’s former Manchester united teammates Bruno Fernandes made it 3-0 for Portugal in the 80th minute. Three minutes later the Al Nassr assisted a fine pass for Pedro Neto to score Portugal’s fourth.
Ronaldo’s moment of magic came in the 87th minute with a spectacular overhead kick to pile up the misery on Poland. Vinitha, who ran through the right wing, sent a looping cross for Ronaldo who was standing unmarked in front of the goal.
But instead of touching or scoring on volley, the former Real Madrid star jumped into a position to send the ball into the net. Poland scored a consolation goal through Dominik Marczuk.
Cristiano Ronaldo surpasses Diego Maradona
The two goals marked Ronaldo’s 134th and 135th goals in international football. He also surpassed Maradona for more goals after turning 35 that what the Argentina legend scored in his entire career.
Hailed as one of the greats in football, Maradona scored 34 goals for Argentina in his 91 appearances from 1977 to 1994. Ronaldo, who will turn 40 in February, scored 35 goals ironically since he turned 35.
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