Back-in-form Ronaldo can help kill ‘sharks’ – coach

PORTUGAL coach Fernando Santos says Cristiano Ronaldo’s two-goal display against Hungary proves he has shaken off a poor start to return to his best at Euro 2016.

Ronaldo scored a pair of brilliant goals in Lyon on Wednesday to go down in European Championship history as the first player to score at four finals.

Portugal came from behind three times for a 3-3 draw which saw them scrape into the last 16 to face Croatia in Lens tomorrow, although they will only have two days’ rest.

Ronaldo, Portugal’s most-capped player yet with 128 appearances, rescued his country and racked up another record by making a 17th appearance at a Euro finals, overtaking France’s Liliam Thuram and Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

“This is what Cristiano is all about, because he’s a winner and a scorer. He feeds on goals,” Santos said.

“This will have increased his confidence levels. He’s a confident player anyway, but this will have boosted him for the next game against Croatia.”

Ronaldo, 31, opened his account in style with a deft back-heel on 50 minutes, then netted with a powerful header 12 minutes later as he twice equalised at the Stade de Lyon. Ronaldo had struggled as Portugal drew their other Group F games against minnows Iceland and Austria, when he hit the post with a second-half penalty on Saturday.

Santos says Portugal must now raise their game against a team he had not wanted to play.

“Croatia are one of the sharks. We had been trying to avoid them,” the Portugal boss admitted.

“They placed first in a group with Spain, which tells you all you need to know about them.

“The most important thing is that we are through to the knock-out stage.”

Santos, 61, was relieved his side had rediscovered their goal- scoring touch after converting just one of their 50 shots on goal against Iceland and Austria.

After a superb opening strike Zoltan Gera, 37, gave Hungary the lead, Nani levelled for Portugal just before the break following Ronaldo’s superb pass.

Hungary captain Balazs Dzsudzsak then twice restored the lead for the Mighty Magyars, only for Ronaldo to level for Portugal each time in a frantic second half.

But Portugal’s defence, marshalled by Pepe, looked less than solid in what was an obvious cause for concern for the manager.

“I think over the three matches we played more than enough to finish in first place,” Santos said.

If they beat Croatia they will face Switzerland or Poland in a quarterfinal in Marseille on June 30.