Ronaldo breaks record with tenth hat trick; Tadic as a substitute accurate

Tuesday, October 12, 2021 at 10:39 PM• Chris Meijer

Portugal dealt with Luxembourg without any problems on Tuesday evening. Thanks in part to a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo – his tenth for Portugal, which is a record – Luxembourg was beaten 5-0, after already having a 3-0 lead on the scoreboard after 17 minutes of play. In the hunt for a ticket for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Portugal has to tolerate Serbia for the time being. The Serbs won 3-1 against Azerbaijan and therefore have one point more than Portugal, although the Portuguese played one game less.

Portugal – Luxembourg 5-0
Portugal is currently competing with Serbia for the direct World Cup ticket in Group A, in which Luxembourg is currently participating excellently with six points from six games. It soon became clear in Estádio Algarve in Faro that there was nothing to be gained for the Luxembourgers – with Sparta Rotterdam defenders Michael Pinto and Laurent Jans in the starting eleven, because within seventeen minutes there was already a 3-0 score on the scoreboard. .

The game was on for nine minutes when Sébastien Thill worked Bernardo Silva to the ground inside the penalty area, after which Ronaldo scored the opening goal from eleven meters. The Manchester United attacker was allowed to dock again four minutes later, after he himself was knocked out by goalkeeper Anthony Moris. The penalty had to be retaken, but went against the ropes in both instances: 2-0. Bruno Fernandes completed the perfect opening phase on a pass from Bernardo Silva with a striking bang from inside the penalty area.

The real highlights then took a long time to come, until Ronaldo was very close to a sensational goal with 67 minutes on the clock. Goalkeeper Moris made a stylish save after a bicycle kick from Ronaldo. Shortly afterwards, Portugal increased the score when João Palhinha headed home from a corner. The final chord was ultimately provided by Ronaldo. On a pass from Rúben Neves, he headed the 5-0, his 115th international goal and tenth hat-trick for Portugal against the ropes.

Serbia – Azerbaijan 3-1
Tadic started on the bench, as national coach Dragan Stojkovic opted for a two-man vanguard with Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic. There is a chance that Tadic was spared because he would be suspended for the final qualifier against Portugal if the next yellow card was received. The Ajax striker did come in the middle of the second half and claimed a penalty after a handball from Tellur Mutallimov, which he then shot in flawlessly. Tadic deprived Vlahovic of the opportunity to complete a hat-trick. The Fiorentina attacker opened the score after a foul on himself by Hojjat Haghverdi. On the stroke of half-time, Emin Makhmudov evened the score when he reacted alertly to a poor pass from bumbling keeper Predrag Rajkovic, before Vlahovic struck again in minute 53 with a close-range rebound.