Cristiano Ronaldo bags a brace as Portugal thrash Armenia 5-0 | OneFootball

Proving oneself as a champion involves millions of challenges. Rivals focus and maximize their potential in order to surpass the reigning monarch. The squad of the reigning monarch, on the other hand, has two options: they rest on the laurels of glory or, quite the opposite, they abstain from that tempting taste and go in search of much more. Portugal's Roberto Martinez, led by an eternally competitive Cristiano Ronaldo, shouted to the planet that they want to continue imposing themselves at the highest level. That their consecration against Lamine Yamal's Spain becomes a healthy habit. And that the frustrating fall against Greece in the final of Euro 2004 or the disastrous World Cup participations become a thing of an unrecognizable past.

It was Denmark, Germany, and the aforementioned Red Fury in the UEFA Nations League. The new victim is called Armenia, a weak team coached by Yeghishe Melikyan, suffering from a defense more permissive than strong and an attack that, directly, was not even offensive.

They let shine some stars who dedicated themselves to doing their thing. Double from Cristiano, leader of the constellation, accompanied by two other shouts from Joao Félix, his partner at Al Nassr, and Joao Cancelo, the talented full-back currently at Al Hilal.

Each goal was better than the previous one. From a header almost inside the box from Joao, through a slight deflection from CR7 to an incisive cross from Pedro Neto, reaching the reappearance of the Bug with a right foot shot from outside the box and ending with an exquisite backheel from Félix himself for the final 5-0. Perhaps Cancelo's goal (long-range shot with complicity from goalkeeper Henri Avagyan) was the least good of them, although it later had a dedication to Diogo Jota that made it worthwhile.

Martinez's orchestra began to play at the beginning of the year and, in its first presentation of European Qualifiers, it has shown football fans once again to consider it a favorite for the 2026 World Cup. The great individual Portuguese talents -finally- were able to unite, creating one of the most fearsome elevens of today. There is plenty to work with. Cristiano, little by little, begins to get excited...

Armenia: Henri Avagyan; Erik Piloyan, Georgiy Harutyunyan, Sergey Muradyan, Nair Tiknizyan; Kamo Hovhannisyan, Ugochukwu Iwu, Eduard Spertszyan, Vahan Bichakhchyan; Tigran Barseghyan, Lucas Zelarayán.

Portugal: Diogo Costa; João Cancelo, Rúben Dias, Gonçalo Inácio, Nuno Mendes; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes; Pedro Neto, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Félix.

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