Portugal guaranteed this Tuesday (29) its sixth consecutive participation in World Cups. At home, the team led by Cristiano Ronaldo did not give the underdog a chance, beat North Macedonia 2-0 and took one of the vacancies in the continental repechage dispute.
It was up to midfielder Bruno Fernandes to score the two goals of the match, the first of them after an assist from shirt 7, at Estádio do Dragão, in the city of Porto.
The stands were packed and there was an atmosphere of hope and tension from the first few minutes. After all, North Macedonia reached this stage after overcoming Italy in the opening of the knockout stage, with a 1-0 victory in Palermo.
The fear of a new fiasco, however, began to fall to the ground in the 32nd minute, when the first goal was scored. After the break, the account was closed at 20 minutes.
At 37 years old, Cristiano Ronaldo will now have the chance to shine in his fifth participation in the World Cup.
All-time top scorer of a men’s team (115 goals) and player who most wore the shirt of Portugal (186), Cristiano Ronaldo has already played in four World Cups.
His debut was in 2006, in the edition held in Germany. The 21-year-old then scored a goal in the tournament in which his team finished fourth, the best place in the country since third place in the 1966 World Cup.
Then, the star was in the Cups of South Africa (2010), Brazil (2014) and Russia (2018). In all, he scored seven goals in 17 games played in World Cups. On African soil, the team fell in the round of 16. In Brazilian territory, it was eliminated in the group stage. In the last edition, it fell back into the round of 16.
On Russian soil, Cristiano Ronaldo scored three goals on his debut in a 3-3 draw with Spain. With that, he equaled the mark of Pelé and the Germans Miroslav Klose and Uwe Seeler, who also scored in four consecutive World Cups.
Currently, he is the leader of what is considered the best generation in Portugal, responsible for giving the country its first official title, with Euro 2016, in addition to winning the 2018/19 UEFA Nations League.
The current squad has athletes who are holders in major clubs in Europe, such as Bruno Fernandes and Dalot, Ronaldo’s teammates at Manchester United, João Cancelo, Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva from Manchester City, João Félix from Atlético de Madrid, among others. , all essential to take the Portuguese team to another World Cup.
Senegal beats Egypt on penalties to secure World Cup spot
In the African Qualifiers dispute, Senegal beat Egypt this Tuesday (29) on penalties (3-1), after having also won the match by 1-0, in normal time – returning the score of the defeat in the game of going to the house of the Egyptians.
Hamdi Fathi, after just four minutes, was the one who scored the goal in regulation time. On penalties, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah missed Egypt’s first kick. His partner in the English team, Sadio Mané, converted the shot that defined the victory of the Senegalese.
After the match, Senegal fans invaded the pitch to celebrate. Salah had to be surrounded by security to make his way to the locker room.
The Senegalese victory also repeats the outcome of the confrontation between the teams in the final of the African Cup of Nations, at the beginning of the year, when Senegal won on penalties by 4 to 2. In normal time, there was a draw by 0 to 0. On that occasion, Mané was also responsible for the last charge and converted.
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