Date with destiny: Calendar boy Ronaldo flavour of month
Belgium and the Netherlands scored 15 goals combined in big routs in football World Cup qualifying, while Portugal got one from Cristiano Ronaldo in their victory against a Luxembourg team that tinkered with another shock result yesterday.
Belgium crushed Belarus 8-0 to stay at the top in Group E, while the Dutch trashed Gibraltar 7-0 to go second behind Turkey in Group G.
Minnow Luxembourg, who opened with a surprising win against Ireland, looked on their way to pulling off another upset after they took the lead against Portugal, but the visitors came from behind to stay at the top of Group A along with Serbia, who earlier defeated Azerbaijan with another double by Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic.
After being held scoreless in the first two qualifiers this year, Ronaldo scored his 31st goal in World Cup qualifying early in the second half in Portugal’s 3-1 victory.
He has now scored for Portugal in every calendar year since his first international goal in 2004, and moved to six away from tying the alltime scoring record for a men’s national team. The record of 109 goals is held by former Iran striker Ali Daei, the only other male footballer to surpass the 100-goal milestone.
Gerson Rodrigues had put the hosts ahead in the 30th minute but Diogo Jota equalised for Portugal in the second minute of stoppage time before Ronaldo and Joa˜o Palhinha added second-half goals.
“It was a difficult first half,” Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches said. “Luxembourg started well, but I think we controlled the game. They had a set piece and scored, but I think that from that point on we controlled the game.”
Hans Vanaken and Leandro Trossard both scored a pair of goals as Belgium trounced Belarus with four goals in each half. “I’m delighted with what I’ve seen from every player,” Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said. “I was very pleased with the performance of the young guys and how this group works together.”
The home victory left Belgium three points ahead of the Czech Republic, who lost 1-0 at Wales thanks to a late Daniel James goal after an assist by Gareth Bale.
Gibraltar, ranked 195th in the world, kept the Netherlands largely at bay before the break but collapsed in the second half on the artificial turf of Victoria Stadium.
The visitors added to their 1-0 halftime lead with four goals by the 64th, then got two more closer to the end.
Memphis Depay had a double for the Dutch, who trail Turkey by a point after three matches.
“The goals came later than we had hoped, but at least they came,” Depay said. “We remained positive, and things came good in the end. The team spirit is great, and we have belief in ourselves.”
Turkey missed a chance to earn their third straight win after squandering a 2-0 lead in a 3-3 draw with Latvia, while Russia also missed a chance to win three straight to start their qualifying campaign, losing 2-1 to Slovakia.
The result left the Russians tied at the top of Group H with Croatia, who got their second victory by beating Malta 3-0. Cyprus beat Slovenia 1-0 for their first win in the group. It was the fifth consecutive away loss for Slovenia in Cup qualifying.