“He’s got that bit of arrogance about him.”
Cristiano Ronaldo was having one of those rare games against Hungary. He was knocking on the door, but it was not caving in.
Chances came and chances went, but the Portuguese legend was stranded on the (albeit incredible) tally of 104 international goals.
Ronaldo turns 37 in November and, as he and Portugal struggled to break the Hungarians down, in their Euro 2020 opener, some mused if this would be a tournament too far.
“Hungary did a job on him for the night,” former Ireland striker Kevin Doyle reflected, on RTE. “It was frustrating for him.
“You could see from the first minute that the crowd were getting on him. You see it week-in, week-out. He thrives on it, though, and loves it. But people were snapping at his heels and the crowd were cheering. He was sticking his tongue out and smiling. He was having one of those nights where the ball was getting away from him and he was falling over… trying to do too much himself.”
Hungary were frustrating the 2016 European champions and they caused one hell of a scare when they had the ball in the net, only for the offside flag to spare them.
Portugal were held off until the 84th minute when Raphael Guerreiro’s deflected strike crept in the bottom corner. With Hungary then having to press forward, Portugal made them pay.
There was a penalty awarded that Ronaldo stepped up to slot home, on 87 minutes. He saved the best for added time when his foot-work set him up for a tasty finish from close range.
Those goals were his 10th and 11th at the European Championship, and international strikes No. 105 and 106. He is now just four shy of the world record and Stephanie Roche told RTE why he could break it during these championships.
“He’s all about breaking these records. As you say, he tries to make it more about the team now but, overall, he’s keen about these big records.”
“He lives for the game,” she added. “He’s chasing those records, and he wants to win for Portugal and at club level. It’s just his mentality. He’s adjusted his game over the last couple of years. He’s always been a very explosive and fast player but now, he chooses when to do it. He waits for the right time.”
Germany and France are up next for Ronaldo, and Portugal. If he wants to break that all-time goalscoring record at Euro 2020, he will have to do it the hard way.
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