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Tag Cristiano Ronaldo

  • Feb, Sat, 2020
Sport

Ronaldo equals Serie A record of scoring in 11 consecutive matches

Record
Rome, Feb. 22, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo equalled a Serie A record by scoring in his eleventh consecutive game on Saturday.

He was on target in the match away to SPAL in his 1,000th senior appearance for club and country.

The Portuguese opened the scoring in the 39th minute as he equalled the record jointly held by Fabio Quagliarella and Gabriel Batitusta.

Quagliarella scored in eleven consecutive matches for Sampdoria last season, while Batitusta did so for Fiorentina in 1994.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Remi Koleoso and Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Ronaldo moves onto 99 as Portugal qualify for Euro 2020

Ronaldo

Luxembourg, Nov. 17, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 99th international goal as the defending champions edged past Luxembourg 2-0 in difficult conditions away from home on Sunday to qualify for Euro 2020.

Bruno Fernandes broke the deadlock in the 39th minute and Ronaldo wrapped it up with four minutes left to ensure that Portugal finished second in Group B with 17 points, three ahead of Serbia who drew 2-2 with Ukraine.

Diogo Jota’s shot appeared to be going in any way but Ronaldo prodded it over to claim the goal.

He is one short of joining Iran’s Ali Daei, the only player to have scored a century of goals for a national team.

“I would have been very proud to have scored my first goal for the national team, but the important thing is we won.

“It doesn’t matter who scores — we are in the Euros and that is what we wanted,” Jota said.

Portugal survived several early scares as they struggled to impose their game on a rain-soaked pitch full of divots at the Josy Barthel stadium.

Ronaldo, in particular, was not enjoying the conditions and gestured angrily at the pitch after sending a speculative wide in the first half.

Needing a win to qualify without having to worry about Serbia’s result, Portugal were in trouble early on as Luxembourg saw a chance to spring an upset.

Maurice Deville got above his marker and headed over from Laurent Jans’ cross and Vincent Thill, a thorn in Portugal’s side, had a goalbound shot blocked by Ruben Dias.

Luxembourg were even closer when a corner found Gerons Rodrigues unmarked but he headed over.

Portugal began to adapt to the conditions and their more direct approach was rewarded with a goal.

Bernardo Silva floated a pass over the Luxembourg defence from deep inside his own half and into the path of Fernandes who took it superbly in his stride and fired a low shot between Anthony Moris and the near post.

The second half was more comfortable for Portugal as they dominated possession although there still anxious moments.

Ronaldo nearly sealed it when he curled a free kick narrowly wide from the edge of the area.

With four minutes left, Silva’s cross found Jota and Moris got a hand to it but could not stop it crossing the line and Ronaldo poked it home for good measure.

“We won’t be favourites but we are going there to win,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos, whose side also won the inaugural Nations League this year.

“We are not the prettiest team but we have won two European tournaments in the last four years.” (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Joseph Edeh

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Sport

Ukraine reach Euro 2020 as Ronaldo hits milestone

 

Euro-2020

Kiev, Oct. 14, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Ukraine advanced to the Euro 2020 finals after an impressive first half helped them to a 2-1 home win over Portugal in Group B on Monday.

However, talismanic Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 700th career goal to share the spotlight with their resilient hosts.

The result left Ukraine top of the section on 19 points from seven games, eight more than second-placed European champions, Portugal who have a game in hand.

Third-placed Serbia are on 10 points from six games after an Aleksandar Mitrovic brace gave them a 2-1 win at Lithuania.

Luxembourg have four points from six games and the Lithuanians prop the group with one point from seven matches.

First half goals by Roman Yaremchuk and Andriy Yarmolenko fired Ukraine into a 2-0 lead before Ronaldo reduced the arrears with a 72nd-minute penalty.

Taras Stepanenko was sent off for the home side for a second yellow card.(Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Dianabasi Effiong/Maharazu Ahmed

Sport

FIFA Best Awards: Conspicuously-missing Ronaldo turns philosophical

Ronaldo
By Victor Okoye
Abuja, Sept. 24, 2019 (NAN) Cristiano Ronaldo, conspicuously-absent from the FIFA Best Awards at the La Scala Opera house in Milan, on Tuesday took to Instagram to express his feelings in philosophical terms.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
Ronaldo missed out as Lionel Messi was named FIFA Best Player of the Year for the sixth time on Monday.

The Juventus superstar was conspicuous by his absence in Milan at FIFA’s glitzy ceremony on Monday night.

Messi took the award ahead of his long-time rival and Liverpool’s defensive rock Virgil van Dijk.

The FC Barcelona superstar who won La Liga last season as well as the European golden boot, last won the award in 2015.

NAN also reports that Ronaldo was not even named by the hosts when the FIFPro World XI was announced, with the 34-year-old treated as persona non grata and no mention being made that one of the eleven was missing.

Ten minutes after the ceremony ended in Italy, the Portuguese superstar took to Instagram to show off what he had been up to away from the event.

He seemed to be immersing himself in a book while his son Cristiano Jr appeared to be doing his homework.

Ronaldo also offered up a few words, although it was not quite discernible whether he was talking about his not being victorious, or his current thigh injury.

“Patience and persistence are two characteristics that differentiate the professional from the amateur,” wrote Ronaldo.

“Everything that is big today has started small. You can’t do everything, but do everything you can to make your dreams come true.

“And keep in mind that after night always comes dawn,” a philosophical Ronaldo declared.

FULL LIST OF FIFA BEST 2019 AWARD WINNERS

Men’s player – Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)

Women’s player – Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC and United States)

Men’s coach – Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

Women’s coach – Jill Ellis (United States)

Men’s goalkeeper – Alisson Becker (Liverpool and Brazil)

Women’s goalkeeper – Sari Van Veenendaal (Atletico Madrid and Holland)

Puskas award – Daniel Zsori (Debrecen/Fehervar)

Fan award – Silvia Grecco (Palmeiras)

Fair play award – Marcelo Bielsa and the Leeds squad

FIFPro men’s world XI – Alisson; Matthijs De Ligt, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Virgil Van Dijk; Frenkie De Jong, Eden Hazard, Luka Modric; Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi

FIFPro women’s world XI – Sari Van Veenendaal; Lucy Bronze, Nilla Fischer, Kelley O’Hara, Wendie Renard; Julie Ertz, Amandine Henry, Rose Lavelle; Marta, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe. (NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Ronaldo hits 600th club goal as Juventus hold Inter Milan

Ronaldo
Rome, April 28, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 600th goal of his club career to earn Italian champions Juventus a 1-1 draw away to Inter Milan in the Serie A on Saturday.

The Turin club wrapped up an eighth successive league title last weekend but found themselves behind early on to a wonder-strike from Inter midfielder Radja Nainggolan.

However, the Portuguese responded with a powerful finish in the second half to make it 20 league goals for the season.

The goal moved Ronaldo within two strikes of Serie A’s leading scorer, Fabio Quagliarella of Sampdoria, in the process.

Inter remain in third place on 62 points, four ahead of AS Roma who are below them.

Juventus, who dropped points for just the sixth time in 34 games this season, moved up to 88 points.

This fixture, known as the “Derby d’Italia’’, is one of the country’s fiercest rivalries.

The home fans taunted the visitors with a pre-match mosaic of placards featuring the UEFA Champions League trophy alongside the words ‘Game Over’.

It was in reference to Juve’s quarter-final exit to Ajax Amsterdam in April.

The home support were left delighted just seven minutes in, when Nainggolan latched onto Matteo Politano’s dipping pass and unleashed a swerving volley from 25 yards out.

It flew past Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Ronaldo drew Juventus level after 62 minutes, exchanging passes with Miralem Pjanic before drilling a left-footed finish into the bottom corner.

It was the 600th goal of the 34-year-old’s club career, with 450 having come at Real Madrid, 118 at Manchester United, 27 at Juventus and five at Sporting Lisbon.

The Portugal international is narrowly ahead of Lionel Messi, who scored his 598th goal for FC Barcelona on Saturday.

The goal helped them win the Spanish La Liga title with a 1-0 win over Levante.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Ronaldo recalled by Portugal for first time since World Cup

Ronaldo
Lisbon (Portugal), March 15, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Cristiano Ronaldo was recalled by the Portuguese national squad on Friday for the first time since last year’s World Cup.

The 34-year-old, who is Portugal’s most capped player with 154 appearances and all-time leading scorer with 85 goals, had not been included for any games in the second half of last year.

Coach Fernando Santos had initially said that a mutual decision had been made to give Ronaldo a rest following his move from Real Madrid to Juventus but had been ambiguous about the player’s future when questioned in November.

Portugal continued to flourish without Ronaldo, winning their Nations League group against Poland and Italy with a game to spare to qualify for the final four-team tournament which the country will host in June.

However, any doubts about his future were removed when Ronaldo’s name was among 25 read by Santos during a news conference for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Ukraine and Serbia

“Cristiano is the best player in the world and is returning to his team,” said Santos. “Any team is stronger with him.”

Portugal host Serbia in Lisbon on March 22 and Ukraine three days later.(Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Dorcas Jonah/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu

 

Sport

Ronaldo hat-trick helps Juventus into UEFA Champions League quarter-finals

Hat-trick

Turin (Italy), March 12, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick helped Juventus to storm back from a 2-0 first leg deficit and beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 to earn a place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Ronaldo stole the show with two headers and a late penalty kick on an ecstatic night for the Turin side.

With Atletico Madrid packing their defence, Ronaldo made the crucial breakthrough in the 27th minute when he rose to head in Federico Bernardeschi’s cross at the far post.

The 34-year-old levelled the aggregate scores in the last-16 clash three minutes after halftime with another towering header, this time from Joao Cancelo’s cross.

With four minutes left, Bernardeschi powered into the Atletico area, and was pushed in the back by Angel Correa.

Ronaldo then blasted home the resulting penalty kick for his hat-trick, his team’s victory for a 3-2 aggregate win and passage into the quarter-finals.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Sponsors EA, Nike raise concern over Ronaldo rape claims

Ronaldo

Oregon (U.S.), Oct. 5, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Sportswear maker Nike Inc and video game maker Electronic Arts Inc said on Thursday they were concerned about rape allegations against Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the world’s best football players.

The 33-year-old athlete on Tuesday denied rape allegations leveled against him by a woman,who sued him in court in Nevada.

“We are deeply concerned by the disturbing allegations and will continue to closely monitor the situation,” Nike said in a statement to Reuters.

Nike has worked with Ronaldo since 2003 and in 2016,announced a lifetime deal with him which could be worth as much as 1 billion dollars, according to Forbes magazine.

Electronic Arts has featured Ronaldo on the cover of its EA Sports’ FIFA series for two years.

“We have seen the concerning report that details allegations against Cristiano Ronaldo,” an EA spokesperson said in an email to Reuters.

“We are closely monitoring the situation as we expect cover athletes and ambassadors to conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with EA’s values,” the company said.

Kathryn Mayorga sued Ronaldo in a district court in Clark County, Nevada, alleging he raped her in 2009 in a Las Vegas hotel penthouse suite.

The player has said his conscience was clear and that he would await the results of any investigation.

“I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me.

“Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in,” the world-famous athlete wrote in a tweet to his 75 million followers.

Ronaldo transferred from soccer team Real Madrid, to Italian champions ,Juventus, this summer for 100 million euros.

Juventus broke their silence on the situation Wednesday afternoon on Twitter, fully backing Ronaldo.

“Cristiano Ronaldo has shown in recent months his great professionalism and dedication, which is appreciated by everyone at Juventus,” the team tweeted.

“The events allegedly dating back to almost 10 years ago do not change this opinion, which is shared by anyone who has come into contact with this great champion,” Juventus said. (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Omolade Michael/

Sport

Ronaldo left out of Portugal squad again

Ronaldo

Lisbon, Oct. 4, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the squad for this month’s matches against Poland and Scotland, the Portuguese Football  Federation (FPF) announced on Thursday.

Ronaldo, Portugal’s record scorer and most-capped player, also missed Portugal’s two games in September a friendly against Croatia and a Nations League match against Italy at his own request.

The 33-year-old five-time world player of the year said he needed more time to adapt following his move from Real Madrid to Juventus, coach Fernando Santos said at the time.

Portugal visit Poland for a Nations League match on Oct. 11 and then travel to Scotland for a friendly three days later. (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Dorcas Jonah /

Sport

Ronaldo, Modric and Salah on FIFA player of the year shortlist

Ronaldo, Modric and Salah on FIFA player of the year shortlist

Shortlist

Zurich (Switzerland), Sept. 3, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah have been nominated as finalists for ‘The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award,’ world football’s governing body announced on Monday.

Ronaldo, who has won the award for the last two years, helped Real Madrid claim a third consecutive Champions League crown, before securing a transfer to Juventus.

Midfielder Modric, also part of Madrid’s Champions League triumph, finished runner-up with Croatia at the World Cup, winning the best player award at the tournament in Russia.

Egyptian forward Salah scored 44 goals for Liverpool last season, helping the English club reach the Champions League final where they were beaten by Real.

France’s World Cup winning captain Hugo Lloris is in contention for the goalkeeper of the year award, alongside Golden Glove winner Thibaut Courtois and Danish shot-stopper Kasper Schmeichel.

Former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, France coach Didier Deschamps and Croatia’s Zlatko Dalic were on the shortlist for coach of the year award.

The women’s player of the year award will be contested between Olympique Lyonnais duo Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Marozsan, and Brazil’s triumphant Copa America Femenina captain Marta.

Hergerberg and Marozsan enjoyed an unbeaten league season and lifted the Women’s Champions League.

The awards ceremony will take place in London on Sept. 24. (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Kamal Tayo Oropo