
A hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo has sealed a dramatic 3-1 victory for Portugal over Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals overnight booking the Iberian nation’s spot in the final at the Estadio do Dragao.
Ronaldo, who has flanked by his ‘successor’ Joao Felix was a step above the Swiss defence who were unable to stop the Juventus forward in the final two minutes as he took full control late to seal their spot in the final.
The Portuguese were in the lead early when Ronaldo’s well hit free kick left Swiss goal-keeper Yann Sommer rooted to the spot as it sailed into the back of the net.
The Swiss responded in a rather controversial manner just after the break as they were awarded a spot-kick after VAR intervention which Ricardo Rodriguez dispatched to level the scores just after half-time.
With the game destined for extra-time, Ronaldo rose to the occasion once more getting on the end of some lovely work from Bernardo Silva to slam home the winner with minutes to play.
However, he wasn’t finished there and after some brilliant solo work in the box, Ronaldo rocketed his third into the roof of the net – sealing his sixth international hat-trick and his 88th goal for his country in 157 games.
Portugal will next face the winner of England or Netherlands in the final which will take place on Monday morning (AEST) while Switzerland will face the loser of those two in the 3rd/4th place play-off.