Ireland v Portugal: ex-Benfica stars stall qualification, Ronaldo suffers | OneFootball

On the night of Thursday, November 13, the national team took action by visiting Ireland's stronghold, a match counting for the fifth round of the World Cup qualifying zone. With several players who have played for Benfica, the team of the quinas lost to the Irish 2-0, on a night where Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off.

Entering the match, Roberto Martínez sought to present the best players for tonight's clash, aiming to secure qualification. The national coach decided to bet on starting five former Benfica players, these were the coach's choices: Diogo Costa, João Cancelo, Gonçalo Inácio, Rúben Dias, Diogo Dalot, João Neves, Vitinha, Rúben Neves, Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, and João Félix.

The nightmare began in the first half of the match, in Ireland. Despite the stronger start by the team of the quinas, the successive mistakes made by the defense and goalkeeper proved to be fatal. In the 17th minute, Troy Parrott opened the scoring for the hosts, to the surprise of the Portuguese team.

Just before the halftime whistle, the Irish striker, who plays for the Dutch team AZ Alkmaar, struck again and beat Diogo Costa, taking Ireland into the break leading 2-0. In the second half, the home team, to Portugal's despair, closed behind the ball line and the Portuguese could do little. To worsen the situation, in the 61st minute of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo received a direct red card after an aggression towards an Irish defender.

With this result, Portugal thus postponed their qualification for the final phase of the World Cup. To secure their ticket across the Atlantic, the team of the quinas will have to win, without room for error, against Armenia, at the Estádio do Dragão, a match scheduled for this Sunday, November 16.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.