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WATCH: Cristiano Ronaldo Slaps Irish Player in Frustration Before Taking Crucial Penalty for Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo truly has established himself as one of the best ever to play the game of football. With insane number of goal contributions each, it is astonishing to see how consistent Ronaldo has been on his career.

Given his insane numbers, it is not a shock that the Portuguese is one of the best goalscorers world football has ever seen. The 36-year-old certainly has carried on the same form in the international stage as well.

Soccer Football – World Cup – UEFA Qualifiers – Group A – Portugal v Republic of Ireland – Estadio Algarve, Almancil, Portugal – September 1, 2021 Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo before he misses a penalty REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

After a slow start to his national team career, Ronaldo now has a whopping 109 goals and entered the qualifier against Ireland as the clear favorite to surpass the record.

READ MORE- BREAKING: USMNT Lose Star Forward and Goalkeeper Ahead of World Cup Qualifiers

Cristiano Ronaldo slaps Irish player in frustration

Playing his first game since his departure from Juventus, all eyes were on Ronaldo. Be it United fans, or CR7 fans in general, everyone expected the 36-year-old to find the net. The game certainly got off to a decent start. It was clear that Portugal were the more dominant teams in terms of possession.

In the 19th minute, the 2016 European champions had a perfect chance to take the lead in the matchup. After Bruno Fernandes was fouled inside the box, Portugal were awarded a penalty.

It was clear that Ronaldo was going to take it. As every other penalty taker would do, Ronaldo first picked up the ball and adjusted it to the spot. But Irish defender Dara O’Shea had definitely had other plans. Just when the 5-time Ballon D’or winner looked all set, O’Shea rolled it over.

Ronaldo clearly wasn’t having none of it. Slapping the Irishman on the shoulder, frustration was clearly visible on Ronaldo’s eyes. The defender also tried to sell it so that the referee could penalize the Portuguese. But fortunately for Ronaldo, the referee didn’t penalize him. O’Shea’s trick though ultimately worked as CR7 unexpectedly missed the penalty.

CR7’s record-breaking night for Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo entering the qualifier against Ireland with 109 international goals in his resume. A scoring machine, the 36-year-old has become a testament of consistency and was expected to clear the 109 goal barrier.

After Ronaldo had a rare miss from the penalty spot, all looked gloom and doom for Portugal. With Ireland becoming more and more comfortable, the likeliness of them scoring first became rampant.

Given that only 5 minutes was remaining in the regular game clock, Ireland were edging towards a famous win. But with some inspired substitutions, good chances were now there for the taking for Portugal. Ronaldo took one of them as calm as a cucumber as he headed the ball in the 89th minute and equalised the score.

The Portuguese then topped it off by scoring the game winner in the last minute of stoppage time. These were the 48th and 49th goal Ronaldo has had in last 47 games. Given how formidable of a goal-scorer he is, expect to see an unprecedented amount of goals this season.

The post WATCH: Cristiano Ronaldo Slaps Irish Player in Frustration Before Taking Crucial Penalty for Portugal appeared first on EssentiallySports.