Euro 2024 Portugal: At the age of 39, Cristiano Ronaldo becomes selfless

EM EM 2024

At the age of 39, Cristiano Ronaldo becomes selfless

Status: 20:08 | Reading time: 2 minutes

Portugal easily wins against Turkey. Cristiano Ronaldo still has time for a selfie with a young streaker

Source: AP/Michael Probst

Portugal leaves Turkey no chance and moves into the round of 16. Cristiano Ronaldo shines as a provider. It seems as if the 39-year-old has found his new role in the national team. In the middle of the game, he poses for a selfie with a young streaker.

Cristiano Ronaldo took the pass and marched alone towards the Turkish goalkeeper. The Portuguese superstar had plenty of time to think about how he wanted to overcome Altay Bayindir. The 39-year-old took three more sweeping steps and then surprised everyone in the sold-out Dortmund stadium.

The striker, who for many years had the reputation of being a goal-hungry egoist, did not shoot at the goal and did not dribble past the keeper. Ronaldo passed the ball across to Bruno Fernandes, who was running alongside him and only had to push it over the line to make it 3-0. “Ronaldo passed the ball to me. He is actually the best goalscorer, but he was thinking in terms of the team. It’s about us winning, not who scores the goals,” said Fernandes.

Two games, two wins – Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal make a perfect start to the European Championship

Source: AFP/INA FASSBENDER

Ronaldo celebrated the goal in Portugal’s 3-0 victory over Turkey as if it were his own. In the first two European Championship games, it became clear that he was much more selfless than in previous tournaments. This is probably also due to his advanced age as a footballer.

Ronaldo poses with young streaker in the middle of the game

Ronaldo still has to wait for his 15th goal at a European Championship. But even without scoring, he is still valuable for his national team, just because of his presence. Ronaldo also laid off a lot of balls against Turkey, just like in the 2-1 win against the Czech Republic, and kept the opposing defense busy.

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But he proved in the first half that he is still hungry for goals, when Joao Cancelo made a bad pass while trying to send the superstar through. Ronaldo was furious and yelled at his teammate. Luckily for Cancelo, his bad pass resulted in an own goal for the Turks.

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After his assist for the third goal, Ronaldo had another big appearance: In the 68th minute, a little boy made it onto the pitch and ran towards the superstar. Ronaldo hugged the young streaker to great applause from the fans and took a selfie with him. The boy then ran back towards the sidelines, where two stewards were able to catch him and lead him off the field. The fans in the Dortmund stadium enjoyed the scene: the young fan was applauded for his action, and superstar Ronaldo was chanted for his reaction by the Portuguese fans.