He would have achieved two records with a single goal. But Cristiano Ronaldo he put aside individual interests for altruism and team spirit. Had he scored against the Türkiyethe champion of Portugal he would have become the first player to score in six editions of the European Championships (also because he is the only one to have played in so many) and he would have taken away Ivica Vastic the record of oldest scorer in the history of the tournament: the Croatian, naturalized Austrian, scored at 38 years and 257 days in Austria-Poland in the 2008 European Championship. Ronaldo turned 39 on 5 February.
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The unexpected assist to Bruno Fernandes
Yet, as if to make fun of all those who consider him a splendid soloist/egoist, Ronaldo produced a lightning counterattack. In the 11th minute of the second half of the match against Turkey he received a through pass from the defense and, thanks to the inattention of the entire opposing team, he appeared very alone in front of the goalkeeper Altay Bayindir. She looked at him and, instead of shooting, she passed the ball to Bruno Fernandes, who had the door wide open in front of him. The Portuguese goal to make it 3-0 was a formality for the Manchester United midfielder. Since prejudice dies hard, someone will have thought that Ronaldo was convinced he was offside and for this reason he wanted to demonstrate magnanimity. The placement of Roma player Celik, however, made his position regular. The former Juventus player celebrated with elegance, welcoming the hugs of his teammates with superior satisfaction. Already distant is the memory of the anger in the 28th minute of the first half, when he had blatantly taken it out on him João Cancelo for a wrong pass: but just as Cr7 sent his teammate, the Turk, to hell Akaydin it was produced in a tragicomic own goal, capable of transforming reproaches into smiles.
Euro 2024, the invasion of the pitch to embrace Ronaldo who trains with Portugal
The records that Ronaldo already holds at the European Championships
The striker of Al-Nassr he is the most loved by the fans, as demonstrated by the increasingly frequent invasions of the pitch to hug him and take a selfie with him: it happened in his national team’s training sessions – as you can see in the video above – and it happened four times in the match with Turkey, as you can see together in the video below. Ronaldo is a legend: he still remains the best scorer ever in the European Championships, with 14 goals, he holds the record for appearances in the final stages (27) and also for assists, which have now become eight, like those of the Czech Poborsky. But no, those two records are not his yet. He was to blame (or deserve) a generous and, for some, unexpected assist.
