CRISTIANO RONALDO hit his 104th international goal in Portugal’s cruise past Israel before heading to Euro 2020.
The football world record for goals in men’s internationals may even be broken by the 36-year-old at the tournament.
With the Selecao a goal to the good, Ronaldo picked up the ball on the left side of Israel’s penalty area and drove towards goal.
And his rocket of a shot was right at goalkeeper Ofir Marciano but squeezed in nonetheless to make it 2-0 after 44 minutes.
Israel became the 42nd nation to concede to the Juventus star, who has hit 43 goals in his last 42 caps for Portugal.
It means he is just six strikes away from beating Iran legend Ali Daei and his record tally of 109 international goals.
Portugal’s opener on Wednesday was made in Manchester as Joao Cancelo slid a slick cross into Bruno Fernandes, who provided a bullet finish into the bottom corner.
Ronaldo made it two moments later before a fierce third from Cancelo, the man City right-back cutting inside and unleashing a wicked effort past the keeper.
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Portugal turned on the style in stoppage time as Manchester United star Fernandes notched his second with a belter into the top corner from 20 yards out.
Having drawn with Spain in their other pre-Euros friendly, the defending champions go into the tournament on fine form and allowed Israel only one shot on target in Lisbon.
France and Germany await in Group F after next week’s opener against Hungary, who Portugal faced in 2016’s run to glory.
And Manchester United star Fernandes has challenged his side to make the most of the tough draw.
He said post-match: “At the last Euros it looked like an easy group and it was difficult to get through.
“All the teams are difficult, at a Euros they will all be good. There is always a group that makes a difference, we have to find it in us.”
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Portugal boss Fernando Santos insisted there is still much to work on for his side with the tactical setup around Ronaldo an issue.
He stated: “In the second-half I changed things a little, I tried to put one more man next to Ronaldo and two midfielders coming in from the inside, but it didn’t work.
“We started to miss a lot of passes and the ball circulation was not so good. There are many things to improve.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
