Portugal crushed Switzerland 4-0 on Sunday in Lisbon on the second day of the Nations League, in a match in which Cristiano Ronaldo presented himself with a double after a long scarcity of selection.
William Carvalho, Betis Sevilla midfielder, opened the scoring after a free kick by Ronaldo, bypassing Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Copil (1-0, 15th place).
Then CR7 took charge of the show by scoring a goal from Diogo Jota (2-0, 35th place). Four minutes later, the Portuguese star signed a double by wrapping up closely after a poor shot from Copil (3-0, 39th place). Joao Cancelo completed the Portuguese correction by putting the ball in the net after the Swiss goalkeeper was eliminated (4-0, 68th place).
Despite this quiet success, Portugal did not start the match in the best way and could have faced penalties.
And in the fifth minute, Benfica Lisbon striker goalkeeper Haris Seferovic sent the ball into the net, but the referee canceled the goal after resorting to the video assistant referee technology to obtain a handball from his colleague Fabian Scher in a duel with Pepe.
This fear had the effect of a flick on the 2016 European champion, who later showed themselves to be more impulsive.
Guilty of a foul on Ottavio, Scheer delivered a perfectly positioned free kick for Cristiano Ronaldo: at the entrance to the surface and almost full axle. Then the Manchester United striker sent a powerful blow that only Copil prevented at the feet of William Carvalho, guarded (1-0, 15).
Ronaldo sees a double
This completely unbridled target of Portugal, who then rushed into the Swiss cages. After a good movement on the right side, Diogo Jota sent the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo, alone in the penalty area, who fired a clear shot to take the break (35, 2-0).
It was the Portuguese captain’s first achievement since October 2021 and a hat-trick against Luxembourg.
The five-a-side Golden Ball soon saw weakness. Serving in the area, Diogo Jota fired a pivotal ball at Copil, and the goalkeeper could only clear the ball away from Ronaldo who followed well to score the 117th goal of his international career (39, 3-0).
“The captain is the best in the world. That’s enough. When you are told he is the best in the world, what more words do you need?”, savored Portuguese coach Fernando Santos in a post-match press conference.
Switching to management style during the second half, Lusitanias scored again when Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva fired fellow club Joao Cancelo into the deep. The team erased Copel from a large bridge before scoring the empty goal (4-0, 68th place).
At the end of the second day, Portugal tops the very difficult Group B with 4 points, the same total as the Czech Republic who drew 2-2 against Spain in Prague.
On Thursday, Portugal will host the Czech team in the third round, again at Jose Alvalade Stadium, while Spain will face Switzerland in Geneva at the same time.
