September 05, (THEWILL) – Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal as Portugal began their 2024/2025 UEFA Nations League campaign with a 2-1 victory over Croatia at the Estádio da Luz. The win maintained Portugal’s perfect competitive record against Croatia, now standing at five wins from five matches.
Before kickoff, recently retired Portugal defender, Pepe, received a commemorative shirt for his 141 international appearances. The home side took an early lead when Diogo Dalot opened the scoring after seven minutes, finishing a well-placed pass from Bruno Fernandes. Ronaldo then doubled Portugal’s advantage, volleying in a cross from Nuno Mendes to reach his career milestone.
Croatia fought back, with Andrej Kramaric testing goalkeeper, Diogo Costa, before setting up a goal just before half-time. Kramaric’s cross found Borna Sosa, whose effort was inadvertently turned into the net by Dalot for an own goal. Pedro Neto nearly restored Portugal’s two-goal lead but hit the crossbar.
The second half saw Portugal push for a third goal, with Ronaldo denied by a reflex save from Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic. Despite continued pressure from the hosts, Croatia managed to keep the score at 2-1. Roberto Martinez’s team now sits joint top of League A Group 1 with Poland, who defeated Scotland in their opening match.
Croatia, who failed to win a game at UEFA Euro 2024 (two draws, one loss), will look to bounce back when they face Poland on Sunday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
