Ronaldo, Portugal’s all-time leading scorer and most-capped global, equaled Frenchman Michel Platini’s record of nine goals in European Championship finals after scoring his teams’s first in the 2-0 win over the Welsh.
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“We’ve done that, we’ve sampled tournament football and there’s nothing like it”.
“This is different. I was 18, that was my first final”.
“This was another test for us tonight, another challenge”. They were the shining star here, the revelation team.
“I’m very confident, I deserve it, the players as well and the supporters”.
“We worked very hard and now we have a final to play. I hope on Sunday you’ll see me crying with joy”, Ronaldo said. “I will watch the game very attentively to analyze our opponent”.
Ronaldo, unsurprisingly, was the catalyst and struck the first blow in the 50th minute, with his exceptional powered header seeing him join Michel Platini as the joint-highest scorer in European Championship history.
“I have broken many records before and I am still breaking records for club and country, but that comes naturally and the most important thing is to reach the final”.
“I’ve told them I’m proud of them, the nation’s proud of them”. Now it’s almost there.
Portugal took a giant stride towards their second European Championship final just three minutes later when a scuffed Ronaldo attempt from outside the penalty area was turned home by a stretching Nani.
“Dreaming is free, so let’s continue to dream”.
On the backs of another suffocating defensive performance and a monster header from Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal halted Wales’ fairy tale run dead in its tracks, winning 2-0 in Lyon to advance to the UEFA Euro 2016 final on Sunday. “Nobody expected us to this far but we did”.
However, his earlier goals at Euro 2016 – the equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Iceland and a goal in the 3-3 draw with Hungary that saw Portugal squeak into the knockout stages – have not gone unnoticed. “It has been shown not only by me but also by Renato (Sanches), by Nani, both other players who have scored goals such as (Ricardo Quaresma) that national team is about everyone and not just about me”.
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But they returned en masse for clashes in Paris, Lille and Lyon to cheer Gareth Bale and his team-mates on, with 20,000 said to have made the trip to central-eastern France for the semi-final.
