Josy Barthel Stadium was the place where Portugal visited Luxembourg for a World Cup Qualifier on Tuesday. We got player ratings.
Cristiano Ronaldo finally broke his goal-drought for Portugal today against Luxembourg. It was the last of three European World Cup Qualifiers for Qatar 2022. In the last match, we saw how the Portugal captain got robbed of a winning goal against Serbia. He wanted to get a little revenge against a more accessible squad but he found a little opposition.
Luxembourg nearly got them with a surprising goal during the first half of the match that nobody in Portugal expected. Gerson scored a beautiful header that gave his side the advantage but Diogo Jota came out to respond. Another header was the equalizer that got Portugal right before halftime from the Liverpool forward. Jota is slowly becoming that player who can score the goals when Cristiano Ronaldo is not having his best day.
Ronaldo scores on a bad day.
Judging from his most recent matches for Portugal, we can say Cristiano Ronaldo is not going through his best moment. This was proven throughout the second half against Luxembourg. Even though he scored Portugal’s second goal after a brilliant cross from Cancelo, Ronaldo missed some incredible chances. One where he was gifted the ball by a defender and failed to score in front of the goalkeeper.
From looking at his demeanor throughout the game, we can tell he doesn’t like the results of his work during matches. Hopefully, Cristiano can return to his best level before the end of the season so we can keep enjoying his football. Otherwise, we won’t see more of him until the next campaign. Regardless of the bitter times, Cristiano still got seven out of three points from these qualifiers.
Player ratings
Luxembourg: Moris (5), Gerson (6), Chanot (3), Jans (5), Pinto (6), Martins (6), O. Thill (5), Sinani (6), V. Thill (5), Barreiro (6), Rodrigues (7).
Bench: S. Thill (5), Deville (5), Martins (6), Skenderovic (N/A), Muratovic (N/A).
Portugal: Lopes (6), Fonte (7), Mendes (6), Cancelo (6), Dias (5), Neves (6), Renato (5), Bernardo (6), Felix (4), Ronaldo (7), Jota (7).
Bench: Neto (6), Silva (6), Palhinha (7), Oliveira (N/A).
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