Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo opened 2020 in fine style following a 4-0 beatdown of Cagliari on Monday with Ronaldo featuring in all four goals. The Portuguese legend scored a hat-trick and provided an assist — all in the second half — as Juve opened up a three-point lead at the top of Serie A ahead of Monday's late encounter between Inter and Napoli.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still dominating the soccer world, but he’s already making plans for life after football.
At a sports conference on Saturday, Ronaldo said he’d like to try out acting.
“One of the things that I seek to challenge myself in, for example, is acting in a movie,” Ronaldo said.
Yes! Let’s make this happen!
Ronaldo would hardly be the first athlete to turn to acting, nor even the first footballer.
It’s about time for the second half of the European club season, and you know what that means — it’s time to burn all the “Cristiano Ronaldo Is Finished” takes from September/October for the fourth straight year.
After hitting a hat-trick against Lithuania last Thursday to bring his international tally up to 98, Cristiano Ronaldo entered today’s match between Portugal and 96th-ranked Luxembourg with his eyes firmly set on becoming the second-ever footballer to reach the century mark for his country. Portugal won 2-0, but it was Bruno Fernandes who opened the scoring for the away side before Ronaldo registered number 99 following a tap-in from millimeters out.
Cristiano Ronaldo entered today’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Lithuania needing five goals to reach a century for Portugal. It was always going to be close as the Juventus striker has historically feasted on the world’s 132nd-ranked side, including the four he hit when the two nations met in Vilnius back in September.
It was always going to happen eventually — it’s just that nobody could’ve predicted how insanely long it’d take for age and the grind of professional sports to somewhat catch up to Cristiano Ronaldo. The 34-year-old has played 982 matches for club and country over the last 17 years, and although he remains decisive, indomitable and a catalyst for one of the world’s best teams, he’s beginning to show signs of what Louis C.K. referred to as “incurable shitty ankle.”
A good portion of the sports-loving world would love it if politics never entered sports. While that’s a pipedream (politics and sports will always be intertwined), we expect at the very least for sports to be conducted outside the purview of politicians.
But in Italy, two senators have brought up a debate on the state of Serie A.
Paulo Dybala did not start Tuesday’s match well. His first touch was a mess early on, he failed to provide much to the attack as Juventus went behind in the first half and many were surprised he wasn’t pulled when Gonzalo Higuain was brought on in the second half.
But by the time he was subbed out in the 81st minute, Dybala was the star — the match winner having scored twice, including an epic golazo to spark the Old Lady to a 2-1 victory over Lokomotiv Moscow.
Ahead of Juventus’ Champions League clash against Lokomotiv Moscow at Allianz Stadium on Tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo spoke to the media about the club’s direction under new manager Maurizio Sarri and his form at the age of 34, while also issuing a stern rebuke to critics that claim he’s somehow holding back both Juve and Portugal with his predatory play.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 700th goal of his professional career, but Portugal’s 13-game unbeaten streak was brought to an abrupt end by Ukraine in Kiev on Monday. The victory secured qualification to Euro 2020 for Ukraine, and it was a continuation of the country’s glorious renaissance under the direction of 43-year-old manager Andriy Shevchenko.
It was Shevhenko himself who scored Ukraine’s last goal at a major international tournament — that coming at Euro 2012 — but based on today’s display, this is a team that will certainly do more than make up the numbers next summer.