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| Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal (R) attempts a kick during the UEFA Nations League League A Group 2 match between Portugal and Switzerland at Estadio Jose Alvalade on June 5, 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal. |
Cristiano Ronaldo
extended his world record international goals tally to 117 after scoring a
brace in Portugal’s 4-0 Nations League victory over Switzerland on Sunday,
while Erling Haaland also grabbed a double for Norway and Gavi made history for
Spain.
Ronaldo, 37, had
gone five games and nearly nine months without an international goal until
Portugal routed Switzerland at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
After scoring twice
in four first-half minutes, Ronaldo missed two more good chances before half
time, had a goal disallowed for a late offside flag and forced Swiss goalkeeper
Gregor Kobel into two good saves late in a lopsided League A game between two
World Cup-bound teams in Lisbon.
It is now 117 goals
in 188 international games for the Manchester United forward heading to his
fifth World Cup in November, where Portugal are in a group with South Korea,
Uruguay and Ghana.
The Swiss had a
goal ruled out early on, for a handball spotted by VAR, before Portugal took
the lead in the 14th minute when William Carvalho reacted to a loose ball after
Kobel parried Ronaldo’s free kick that was deflected.
Ronaldo made it 2-0
with an emphatic shot when the ball was laid back to him by Diogo Jota, then
pounced on a close-range rebound after Kobel saved from Jota. Joao Cancelo
completed the rout in the 68th minute with a 20-yard shot after Kobel raced out
and failed to clear a through ball.
Portugal lead
top-tier Group 2 with four points after drawing 1-1 at Spain on Thursday, while
Switzerland have lost three games and drawn one in 2022 and it gets no easier
hosting Spain and Portugal in Geneva next week.
Haaland, who
will join Manchester City this summer, moved on
to 18 goals in 19 games for Norway after scoring twice in a 2-1 win against
Sweden in League B to show why the 21-year-old forward will be the biggest
talent missing in Qatar.
Haaland, whose goal beat Serbia on Thursday, scored
from the penalty spot in the first half against Sweden, and extended Norway’s
lead in the 69th minute, advancing to score with an angled shot. Manchester
United forward Anthony Elanga pulled one back for Sweden in injury time.
Serbia beat
visiting Slovenia 4-1, with Aleksandar Mitrovic opening the scoring midway
through the first half. It was a 45th international goal in 73 games for the
27-year-old Fulham forward.
Mitrovic’s previous
goal for Serbia was in November when his 90th-minute winner in Portugal sent Serbia to the World Cup and put
Ronaldo and his teammates into the playoffs. Serbia are in a World Cup group
with Brazil, Switzerland and Cameroon.
Gavi became Spain’s
youngest ever goalscorer and Inigo Martinez headed home a late equaliser as
Spain drew 2-2 with the Czech Republic in Prague.
Barcelona
midfielder Gavi scored with a low curling left-footer at the record age of 17
years and 304 days, levelling the first-half score at 1-1 just before half
time.
Martinez blasted
his header just over the line off the crossbar in the last minute of the game
to hand Spain a draw.
The Czechs went up
twice with counter-attack goals by Jakub Pesek and Jan Kuchta in the Group B,
League A game.
“We didn’t
feel well most of the time and didn’t do as well as we had wanted,” Spain
manager Luis Enrique said. “We lacked fluency so the game was really
tough.”
Spain will next
face Switzerland in Geneva on June 9 while the Czechs are due to take on
Portugal in Lisbon on the same day.
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