Porto, March 30 (BUS): There will be at least another World Cup for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The all-time top scorer in men’s international football will play in the World Cup for the fifth time after Portugal beat North Macedonia 2-0 in the European qualifiers on Tuesday.
“Goal achieved,” Ronaldo said on Instagram after the match. We have made it to the World Cup in Qatar. We are where we deserve to be.”
This time around, there was no astonishing winner for North Macedonia to eradicate a conventional force like against European champions Italy last Thursday in Palermo, the Associated Press reported.
Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring for the hosts after Ronaldo’s pass in the first half and added another goal in the second half to secure Portugal a place in the World Cup for the sixth time in a row.
“This is a special victory,” Fernandez said. “We have reached our goal, which is what matters. Portugal played better matches, but this match will remain in our memory because it gave us a place in the World Cup.”
There will be no final debut for North Macedonia, who was exiting from her first major tournament entry at Euro 2020.
After escaping the playoffs, Portugal will be a seeded team in Friday’s draw for the football show event in November.
The 37-year-old will play in his 10th consecutive major tournament in a series that began in Euro 2004. He has played in four World Cups and five Euros, winning the European title in 2016.
Ronaldo is the highest goalscorer in men’s international football with 115 goals, and is the only player to score at least once in the finals of nine major tournaments in a row.
Ronaldo and the rest of the squad gathered around the Portugal flag in midfield as fans celebrated and sang the national anthem at Estádio do Dragão in Porto.
“We are happy that the Portuguese will see Portugal in the World Cup finals again,” coach Fernando Santos said. “The players showed that they were fully committed from the start and beat a tough opponent.”
Portugal also needed to go into the 2010 and 2014 World Cup qualifiers, beating Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2010 and Sweden in 2014.
He was relegated to the playoffs this time after conceding a late net and ceding the lead at home in the last group game against Serbia last year. In the first match of the qualifiers last week, Portugal defeated Turkey 3-1 in Porto after the visitors missed a penalty in the 85th minute that could have wiped out a two-goal lead in the first half.
“It was unfair that Portugal did not qualify for the World Cup,” said veteran defender Pepe. “We showed our strength on the field to give this victory to our fans.”
Ronaldo missed Portugal’s first good chance in the second half in the 14th minute on Tuesday, then gave a soft pass to his Manchester United teammate for the opening goal after a mistake from the North Macedonia defense in the 32nd minute. Fernandes entered the area and fired a low shot from the far post, then added to the lead from Close distance after a Diego Jota pass in the 65th minute.
North Macedonia, which gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, did not make it past the group stage at Euro last year, losing all three of its matches. But in addition to a shock 1-0 win over Italy last week, the Italian national team stunned Germany last year in their European qualifying group, finishing second behind Germany and ahead of Romania.
Coach Santos made some significant returns for the team on Tuesday, with defenders Pepe and Joao Cancelo playing right from the start after missing the game against Turkey. Pepe has tested positive for COVID-19, while Cancelo has been suspended.
Failure to qualify for Portugal meant the end of the streak with the national team coach Santos and veteran players Pepe, Jose Fonte and Joao Moutinho, all aged 35 or over.