Cristiano Ronaldo was compared to a vintage wine after making history with Portugal to send Morocco crashing out of the World Cup.The 33-year-old scored the 85th goal of his international career, a new record for a European player, just four minutes into this game. And his coach Fernando Santos believes the Real Madrid star, who was sporting a new goatee beard for the occasion, just gets better with age.
Ronaldo’s headed winner meant Morocco, who last week failed with a bid to host the 2026 World Cup, became the first team eliminated from this one. He also leads the race for the Golden Boot after his sensational hat-trick against Spain, and his four goals so far in the finals are the most he has scored in a major tournament.
Asked why Ronaldo has been able to perform so well, Portugal boss Fernando Santos said: “Because he has a great coach!
“Cristiano is like a port wine. He knows how to refine his capacity and his age at his best”. He is constantly evolving contrarily to regular players. Portugal will now look to finish top of the group by beating Iran in Saransk on Monday, while eliminated Morocco face Spain in Kaliningrad.