Portugal and Wales Euro 2016 semi-final was billed as a battle between two high-profile Real Madrid players, as Cristiano Ronaldo line-up against Gareth Bale. It Ronaldo that can out on top, as his team recorded a 2-0 win over the Dragons, with the 31-year-old scoring once and producing an assist.
There have been question marks over Ronaldo’s performance for the Selecao in France, as he has scored just twice, despite having spurned a number of golden opportunities.
However, Ronaldo, as he so often does in big games, moved-up a gear to affect the game in a positive way. His goal was a pretty simply header, while his assisted was a missed-hit shot from 25 yards out.
Incredibly Ronaldo became the first player to play in three European Championship semi-finals and has now made 20 appearances at the European Championships, which is three more than Italy ‘keeper Gigi Buffon and Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.
His Real Madrid team-mate Bale endured an off-night, misplacing passes and failing to have the sort of impact he had in France, especially in the group stages when he scored three times. Some observers even stated that the Welshman had surpassed his Real Madrid team-mate.
However, Ronaldo showed-up when it mattered and Bale did not. There is no doubt Ronaldo is definitely still the top dog at the Bernabeu. It will be Ronaldo attempting to help his team win the European Championship on Sunday night in Paris.
The Selecao have never won a major international and have in fact never reached a final outside their homeland. If Portugal does manage to win Euro 2016 then no doubt the irrepressible Ronaldo will have played a major part in the win.