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The Portuguese led by Ronaldo are on an ongoing journey of brilliance

Portugal, the 2016 European Cup champions, continued their perfect journey, achieving an eighth consecutive victory by defeating their Bosnian hosts 5-0. Two of these goals were scored by their veteran captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, in Zenica, during the eighth round of the Group Ten qualifications for the European Football Championship, set to take place in Germany next summer.

The striker of the Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr scored his goals in the fifth and twentieth minutes, raising his tally to nine goals in the qualifiers, and affirming his position in second place on the goal-scorers list, just one goal behind the leading scorer, Belgium’s forward Romelu Lukaku.

Ronaldo, who netted a double on Friday as Portugal defeated Slovakia 3-2 and secured their spot in the finals, has now scored an impressive 127 goals for his country in 203 international matches. He became the first European player to achieve nine international goals after the age of thirty-eight.

The remaining goals were scored by Bruno Fernandes (25), João Cancelo (32), and João Félix (41).

Portugal, the runner-up of the 2004 European Cup edition which was held in their country, and the eight-time participant in the finals, secured their position at the top of the group with 24 points, extending their lead over Slovakia, who are their closest competitor, to eight points. Slovakia took a significant step towards qualification by securing a crucial 1-0 victory against the surprise team of the qualifiers, Luxembourg, thanks to David Duris’ goal in the 77th minute.

Slovakia widened the gap to 5 points between them and Luxembourg, with only two rounds remaining in the qualifications.

Luxembourg’s tally plateaued at 11 points in third place, just one point ahead of Iceland, who took advantage of Bosnia’s loss and moved up to fourth place by defeating Liechtenstein with a 4-0 victory. Goals were scored by Gylfi Sigurðsson (22, 49 from a penalty), Alfreð Finnbogason (44), and Hákon Arnar Haraldsson (63).

Sandro Wieser missed a penalty for Liechtenstein.

The Bosnian team, who halted at nine points and slipped to fourth place, lost their hopes for direct qualification, and their chances now depend on the play-offs, as they topped their group in the second tier of the European Nations League this year.

Portugal’s coach, Spaniard Roberto Martinez, made four changes to the lineup that defeated Slovakia. He substituted Sporting defender Goncalo Inacio for Benfica’s defender Antonio Silva, and Paris Saint-Germain’s French midfielder Danilo Pereira for Fulham’s English midfielder Palhinha.

He also brought in Joao Felix, Barcelona’s midfielder, on loan from Atletico Madrid, in place of Paris Saint-Germain forward Goncalo Ramos, and Al-Nassr’s midfielder Otavio in place of Manchester City’s winger Bernardo Silva.

Portugal won an early penalty when Felix shot from close range that hit the foot of Hamburger SV’s defender Dennis Hadžikadunić, and then the hand of his teammate Basel’s defender Adrian Leon Barisic. Ronaldo successfully sent it into the middle of the goal, to the left of goalkeeper Ibrahim Šehić (5).

Manchester United’s English midfielder Fernandes missed the opportunity to reinforce his team’s lead, after a cross from his club teammate, Diogo Dalot; Fernandes shot close to the right post (17).

Ronaldo reinforced his team’s lead with the second goal when he received a through ball from Felix, behind the defense and inside the box, which he shot at the goal (20).

Fernandes contributed the third goal after receiving a cross while behind the defense, intercepting it with his chest inside the box and then shooting it powerfully with his right foot into the goal (25), raising his tally to 5 goals in the qualifiers, and 18 international goals.

Cancelo scored the fourth goal with a fantastic shot from outside the box, taking advantage of a ball set up by Fernandes to Ronaldo, who failed to follow through. It fell in front of the Manchester City loanee to Barcelona, and he placed it with his right foot into the far left corner of the goalkeeper Šehić (32).

Felix scored the fifth goal after a pass from Otavio, intercepting it with his left foot and finishing it with a sliding right-footed shot to the left of the goalkeeper (41).

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