He may be suspended in La Liga, but Cristiano Ronaldo is still torching opponents. On Thursday the Portuguese star ravaged poor Faroe Islands with three goals, including one incredible scissor kick that would make even Lionel Messi blush.
Portugal won 5-1, not an unexpected result. Portugal is ranked No. 6 in the world; Faroe Islands is ranked 89th. The Portuguese need all the points they can get as they’re still three points behind Group B leader Switzerland, which also won Thursday.
Ronaldo passed Pele on the all-time international scoring list with his 78th goal. He reached 14 goals this World Cup qualifying campaign, tying the record set by Predrag Mijatović of Yugoslavia ahead of the 1998 World Cup.
But enough talk, let’s watch that sweet scissor kick from Ronaldo.
CRISTIANO RONALDO
The Portuguese forward scores a GREAT goal to open up the scoring against Faroe Islands. #WCQ https://t.co/iVTGEljtpl— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 31, 2017
CR7 made it 2-0 with a goal from the penalty spot in the 29th minute. Despite being in the midst of a five-match suspension with Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo: 13 goals in 6 #WCQ matches. https://t.co/o5URQkfB4n
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 31, 2017
Faroe Islands actually came into the match in fourth place in the six-team Group B. Most of that was because of the absurdly easy group that also included Andorra and Latvia. Hungary is the other team in the group that the Netherlands desperately wished it was in instead of Group A.
Despite Ronaldo’s two early tallies, the Faroese pulled one back through Rógvi Baldvinsson, who plays in Norway’s second division and struck a nice volley for the nation’s third goal in seven World Cup qualifying matches.
William Carvalho restored the two-goal advantage with a header in the 58th minute and Nelson Oliveira finished the scoring in the 84th minute. In between Ronaldo completed his hat trick with some classy composure in the box.
Another day, another record!
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 14 goals in this qualification campaign. #WCQ https://t.co/QC2lWwCwRd— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 31, 2017
Ronaldo won’t be able to return to La Liga play with Real Madrid until Sept. 20 after shoving a referee in the Super Cup against Barcelona. He did score a goal in a friendly against Fiorentina last week.
No doubt Ronaldo’s suspension has fueled some impressive goals. We can’t wait to see what happens on Sunday against Hungary. Or when he returns to Real Madrid.
The18 Recommends For You
