118 CHA

I may Cristiano Ronaldo Finish the games without breaking to sweat and without any defensive effort. At 40 years of age it is more an institution than an active footballer (for that reason Nico Williams He changed his shirt at the break), but while abroad it begins to be rare to see him as the head of the Portuguese team, in his country it seems that few doubt him. And the second goal, the one who took the game to the extension, gives them reasons for that faith.

The game was as intense as we could expect between two selections that live good times. Spain hit first, with a goal from Bright that left frozen defense. But Portugal reacted quickly: Nuno Mendesone of the most active of the match, tied with a left -footed shot after a boarding school for the band. After, Oyarzabal He advanced again to Spain, and the game seemed to escape. It was then that, once again, Cristiano appeared on the scene. He had not shone especially until then, but with him that doesn’t matter. Mendes He repeated play on the left, the Spanish rear doubted a second and, at that moment, Ronaldo smelled blood. He removed from in the middle of Worm and pushed the ball to the network with the serenity of who has done it almost a thousand times.

That goal, which matched the game and sent the final to the extension, was 139 with its selection, a figure that no one has reached in the history of international football. And it was also the 939 of his career. Unrepeatable numbers, which only confirm what in Portugal They already know for two decades: that Cristiano Ronaldo He is not just a footballer, it is an entire chapter of the history of sport.

But fate, which smiled at him so many times, played a bad pass. In the 87th minute, a gesture to the thigh, a grimace, he threw himself to the ground and the Portuguese fans held his breath. Cristiano Ronaldo He asked for the change and left walking, with his head high, but with that gesture that in Portugal they know well: who does not want to leave but the body no longer allows him to stay. I was angry. Isco went to greet him because they both agreed in the Madrid.

The image inevitably evoked the euro final 2016when the decisive minutes were passed by instructions from the band. In Munich He did not want to see the penalties.