Cristiano Ronaldo Fires Hat Trick Past Lithuania to Edge Portugal Closer to Euro 2020 Qualification

Published 11/15/2019, 6:55 AM EST

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Portugal trashed Lithuania in the EURO 2020 qualifiers on the back of a Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick on Friday.

The fact that Portugal attempted as many as 32 shots showed the domination  they had on the game.

Ronaldo opened the scoring early on from a penalty he won. He later curled one in just before half-time. 25 minutes before the end of the match, Ronaldo completed his hat-trick.

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Ronaldo was thought to be suffering from a knee problem after being substituted early while playing for Juventus.

Portugal Coach Fernando Santos, however said that he never had any doubts about his Talisman.

“I asked him if he was okay to play, it was just a case of having a conversation with him,” he said. “I never had any doubts about his condition, it was other people who had them. Nothing surprises me about Cristiano.”

 

Asked how Ronaldo was feeling when substituted late on, Santos told RTP : “He’s fine. I had no doubt about that, as I said before the match. Other people did, but I didn’t have any doubts.”

Pizzi, Goncalo Paciencia and Bernardo Silva were also on target for Portugal, as they ultimately finished with six goals to nil against a distraught Lithuania.

Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes was full of praise for his team-mate, who is now up to 98 goals for the reigning European champions.

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“What we have is a very motivated Cristiano, who always gives his best,” Fernandes said. “He scored three times, which is normal for him.”

With the win, Portugal have edged closer to qualifying for the 2020 Euro. They can seal second place in Group B if they beat Luxembourg in their final qualifier on Sunday.

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Cristiano Ronaldo now has 98 international goals to his name and Sunday’s game gives him the opportunity to make it to hundred international goals by this weekend.

Among the other major results on Friday’s Euro qualifiers were England scoring seven past Montenegro and Olivier Giroud saving France against Moldova to take them to a 2-1 victory.

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Written by:

Saketh Kandadai

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