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Cristiano Ronaldo Scores at 40 to Send Portugal to Nations League Final

At 40 years old, the forward scored the winning goal as a visitor at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

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Once again, an ageless Cristiano Ronaldo, with 40 years behind him but his talent intact, was the hero for Portugal, this time in the Nations League. A goal of his gave his national team a 1-2 victory as visitors against Germany to reach the final of the tournament.

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At the Allianz Arena in Munich, the same venue that hosted the Champions League final on Saturday, where PSG humiliated Inter to win the title (5-0), CR7 wrote another glorious page in his résumé and for his national team, which will seek on Sunday its second title in the tournament, after winning the 2018–19 edition.

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Portugal will face on Sunday, again in Munich, the winner of the other semifinal, which Spain and France will play this Thursday in Stuttgart.
Portugal came from behind to beat Germany as visitors
Portugal managed to overcome a German goal early in the second half. Florian Wirtz scored with a header after a pass from Joshua Kimmich to put Julian Nagelsmann’s team ahead in the 48th minute.

Ronaldo_vs._FC_Schalke
Ronaldo_vs._FC_Schalke

With Vitinha as inspired as he was on Saturday in the Champions League final and with Cristiano ready to lend a hand, Portugal turned the match around.

Francisco Conceição scored the 1-1 for the Portuguese in the 63rd minute, with the best goal of the night: he received a pass from Ruben Dias and began to gain ground toward the goal before taking a shot from outside the box that left goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen with no chance. The celebration began to change color, from white to red, in the stands of the Allianz Arena.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrating a dramatic goal, Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrating a dramatic goal.

His father, coach Sergio Conceição, also scored goals (three) against Germany. It was 25 years ago—in Euro 2000—exactly the time since Portugal’s last victory over the German team.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s 937th career goal
But Cristiano Ronaldo’s contribution was still to come. Five minutes after Conceição’s stunning goal, he made it 1-2 after a pass from Nuno Mendes—a goal hotly contested by the hosts, but the semi-automated VAR left no doubt about its legality.

Before that, Germany had been the superior side. But they lacked what Portugal had in abundance—clinical finishing—especially with Cristiano on the pitch, who reached the 937th goal of his career.

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