Ronaldo is a goal – Santos hails Portugal star

Lisbon, March 24: Portugal coach Fernando Santos praised Cristiano Ronaldo and his team's determination after its dramatic friendly win over Egypt.

Ronaldo scored twice in additional time after Mohamed Salah's second-half opener for Egypt to lead the European champions to a 2-1 victory in Zurich Friday.

The brace took Ronaldo onto 81 international goals, trailing only Ali Daei (109 for Iran) and Ferenc Puskas (84 for Hungary and Spain) for the most in history.

Santos was unsurprised by the Real Madrid star's contribution, telling RTP: "Ronaldo is this. Ronaldo is a goal. He's a goal."

As for his side's performance, Santos was dissatisfied, although he lauded their attitude.

"We were better in the first half, but with some less correct nuances in the offensive aspect," he said.

"We could not create great opportunities, but by our way of playing we could have scored goals.

"I tried to rectify it in the second half, but things did not go well. The game was more broken and we conceded a goal in which we appeared to lack defensive aggressiveness.

"The substitutions made after the goal caused difficulty. The team was broken.

"Thanks to the players, the team went up and happiness comes to those who are looking for it, thanks to the determination of a team that never allows to lose, always wins."

Portugal face Netherlands in their next friendly Monday.

Source: OPTA