June 5, 2019. At the Estádio do Dragão, in the first semifinal of the League of Nations, Cristiano Ronaldo signed a hat trick against Switzerland and led Portugal to a final where they would eventually defeat the Netherlands and win the inaugural edition of the competition. June 5, 2022. At the Estádio José Alvalade, in the group stage of the League of Nations, Cristiano Ronaldo once again faced Switzerland. But the context, three years later, was somewhat different.
The captain of the National Team returned to the starting eleven after being a substitute against Spain, entering only in the second half, and looking to break a quick goal for Portugal that has lasted since October of last year. — between five games and 388 minutes, which is already the longest drought since 2012, a decade ago. After an unlucky season at Manchester United and with the future still somewhat uncertain, Cristiano Ronaldo had the opportunity to shine again against Switzerland to forget about the less successful performances.
Now, in addition to Ronaldo and against the Swiss, Rui Patrício also returned to the initial options of Fernando Santos who in recent games has opted for Diogo Costa in goal. Nuno Mendes, William Carvalho, Rúben Neves and Diogo Jota also made headlines in relation to the match against Spain on Thursday, to the detriment of Raphael Guerreiro, João Moutinho, Bernardo, André Silva and Rafael Leão. On the other hand, Seferovic started in attack for Switzerland, and the national coach assured that the Portuguese players are prepared for this rotation.
“Rotations include everything. I have 26 players available and they all have my confidence. I don’t have players here just to watch, eat, sleep and train. That then depends on my options”, said Fernando Santos in the preview of the match, with Portugal entering the field after a draw against Spain and on equal points with the Spaniards in Group 2 of League A of the League of Nations, where the Czech Republic was the leader and Switzerland had no points won.
⌚️16′ BY 1-0 SUI
????????William Carvalho scores the 5th goal for Selection A, it’s been 2 and a half years since he scored for the corner team.
Scored 3 goals at home:
Alvalade (vs. Switzerland)
Bessa (vs. Faroe Islands)
Algarve (vs. Latvia) pic.twitter.com/c1m8LqK7ex— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) June 5, 2022
Murat Yakin’s team suffered a last-minute slump, with Vargas coming out injured in the warm-up and being replaced by Lotomba in the starting eleven. The match began somewhat unevenly, without great tactical guidelines and without one of the teams assuming a real ascendancy, although it was sensed that Portugal would bet a lot on the counterattack. Seferovic put the ball into one of the goals for the first time, when he shot after a rebound from a corner, but the VAR ended up annulling the Benfica striker’s goal by the hand of Schär (5 ‘).
With the match more united and the National Team taking the lead naturally, mainly due to the effective pressure on the ball carrier and the speed injected into the runners, the goal ended up appearing. Ronaldo takes a free kick on the edge of the penalty area, Kobel defends it from the front and William, on the rebound, stays within range (15′). Switzerland tried to react from a disadvantage, with Shaqiri shooting from above (25′) and Rui Patrício (31′), but Portugal always created more danger by approaching the opposite goal. Otávio had a great opportunity to score, which he ended up shooting from the side (33 ′), but the second goal was not long in coming.
????????? 42′ | ????????? Portugal 2-0 Switzerland ????????
Apart from the encore, Ronaldo continues without failing the aim of any shot or pass:
3/3 framed shots????
8/8 happens right????
BITXO????# PORSUI #UNL #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/gCIGuAFOVD— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) June 5, 2022
In a brilliant offensive transition play, Otávio dodged a header to release Bruno Fernandes from the right, the Manchester United midfielder placed Jota in the penalty area and the forward took the opportunity to wait for Ronaldo, who finished with the first shot to increase distance. take advantage and end the fast that lasted since October (35 ‘). Switzerland was completely disorganized from this point on and became completely permeable to Portuguese counter-attacks every time they advanced with the rise of the full-backs. Jota was able to score (38′) and Pepe hit the post (38′) but he reserved the third goal for the usual: Bruno Fernandes and Nuno Mendes lost their balance on the left, Jota shot to save Kobel and Ronaldo, on the rebound, did not miss (39’).
Portugal could have achieved the win before the break, especially in a bet in which Ronaldo missed the hat trick against Kobel (42′), and the first part ended with the clear idea that the National Team was inevitably superior to Switzerland — and that the three midfielders, Rúben Neves, Bruno Fernandes and William Carvalho, were performing well above average.
????????? INTERVAL | ????????? Portugal 3-0 Switzerland ???????
???? The neighbor is Swiss…
???? … but the chocolate is Portuguese, and it is offered above all by Cristiano Ronaldo, who has already scored twice# PORSUI #UNL #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/5iNkkcrCBF— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) June 5, 2022
In the second half, as expected, Portugal began to manage the comfortable advantage with the ball and very calmly, calming down the pace of the game and having a rival in Switzerland that did not give many problems either. Ronaldo put the ball back into the back of the goal, in a rebound against an initial stop by Kobel (51′), but the shot was eventually annulled due to Bruno Fernandes being offside at the start of the play. Murat Yakin was the first to move, swapping Seferovic and Rodríguez for Embolo and Okafor, and Fernando Santos responded shortly after by releasing Bernardo and Ricardo Horta to take out Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota.
And Bernardo, in one of the first interventions he had in the game, pushed Portugal into the win: Cancelo started on the right, combined with Bernardo and the Manchester City midfielder took a perfect pass to Return to the side, which anticipated Kobel’s departure and shot at an empty goal (68 ‘). Rafael Leão and João Palhinha came on in the last quarter of an hour, due to the exits of Otávio and Rúben Neves, and Ronaldo was stamping the hat trick with a direct free kick that was stopped in flight by the Swiss goalkeeper (83′).
⌚️70′ BY 4-0 SUI
?????????João Cancelo scores the 6th goal in Selection A, marks two consecutive games in Alvalade for the Quina team.
It was the defender’s second goal in the UEFA Nations League: against Switzerland and Croatia. pic.twitter.com/keawakZjcV
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) June 5, 2022
Until the end, little has happened. Portugal thrashed Switzerland in Alvalade in the Round of 16 of the League of Nations and will dispute the leadership of Group 2 of League A next Thursday, against the Czech Republic, who tied with Spain in Prague. On a day when Ronaldo was about to repeat the hat trick three years ago, in which the midfield elements were crucial and in which Cancelo was brilliant, Fate proved Fernando Santos right: they are not even there just to watch, eat and sleep.
????????? END | ????????? Portugal 4-0 Switzerland ???????
???? Striking and effective display produces defeat
???? Ronaldo scored twice and could even have beaten the hat-trick that turns 3 today, precisely against the Swiss
Ratings at https://t.co/QZuwKyufuG# PORSUI #UNL #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/TeGufNPeL7— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) June 5, 2022
Source: Observadora
