Only three months ago, Cristiano Ronaldo was a sorry figure as he trudged down the tunnel at the Al Thumana Stadium in Qatar.
Portugal had just been dumped out of the World Cup by the competition’s surprise package, Morocco, who took the semi-final place which Selecao fans fully expected their team to claim. At 37 years of age, was this the end for the great CR7?
Well, no!
Fast forward to March and the opening rounds of Euro 2024 qualification, and the now 38-year-old forward has just scored four goals in two games as Portugal have thrashed both Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. In the opener, Ronaldo set a new record for the highest number of international caps and he celebrated his 197th appearance by scoring a penalty and later firing in a trademark free-kick in a 4-0 victory.
And then, on Sunday, the Selecao took a firm grip on Group J when they hammered Luxembourg 6-0; and now the latest Euro 2024 betting odds here at SBOTOP price them at 1.11 to top the group.
While Joao Felix, Rafael Leao, Bernardo Silva and Otavio all got on the scoresheet, it was Ronaldo who bagged his second brace of the week within half an hour, prodding home the opener with just nine minutes on the clock.
And then when Bruno Fernandes threaded through a pass, CR7 picked it up and fired low into the bottom corner.
This is a team packed with flair, but the main man is still writing the headlines.
Retegui announces himself to the Azzurri fans
Italy’s campaign got off to a mixed start, losing their Group C opener at home to England before recovering to win away to Malta.
The victory left the Azzurri in second place, and there was encouragement for head coach Roberto Mancini in the form of his newest striker Mateo Retegui.
The 23-year-old blasted his debut goal past Jordan Pickford at the Diego Maradona Stadium in Naples, and he headed in a cross from Sandro Tonali to set Italy on the way in his second appearance, a 2-0 win over Malta.
Retegui represented Argentina at U19 ad U20 levels, but he is eligible to play for Italy through descent and Mancini acted quickly to pre-register him in February for these Euro 2024 qualifiers. And Retegui became the first Italy player to score in his first two internationals since Pierino Prati in 1968.
Have Italy found a successor to Lazio’s prolific hitman Ciro Immobile, who is now 33 years old?
It’s too early to say, but Retegui has become big Euro 2024 news, as he has scored 25 goals in 35 games for Atletico Tigre in the Argentine league, and Europe’s top clubs have been put on alert.
La Roja blow hot and cold
Spain are one of the most exciting teams on the planet, certainly in terms of potential as they boast a collection of young players with true star quality. Even without the sidelined quartet of Alex Balde, Gavi, Pedri, and Ansu Fati, they have a huge choice of top class players and are hot favourites to win Group A.
But after opening their account with a 3-0 win over Norway, Spain’s trip to Scotland turned out to be a disaster as the Tartan Army celebrated an unlikely 2-0 win.
Scott McTominay scored twice to add to the two he bagged in a 3-0 victory over Cyprus, as the hosts picked up three vital points. The Manchester United man had a bit of luck when his shot at the seventh minute took a wicked deflection to beat Kepa, and then he reacted brilliantly to volley home a deflected cross from Kieran Tierney just after the break.
Spain made eight changes from the side which beat Norway and Joselu, with an opening day brace under his belt, crashed the bar with a header, while Rodri headed over when he should have hit the target.
La Roja only managed eight shots in the entire game and only three on target, the same as their hosts, so they couldn’t really complain as they fell to a first defeat to Scotland since 1984.
It was also a first defeat for Spain’s new head coach Luis de la Fuente but he was impressively calm about the loss, saying: “The game went how we thought it would. It was a difficult game. We had a plan and stuck to it. It came down to the small details. Overall I’m satisfied by what I saw on the pitch, I think there is hope for the future.”
“It doesn’t change our overall plan. There are six games left and we are going for it,” he added. Next up, La Roja has a huge match against Italy in the UEFA Nations League semi-final, and La Fuente will hope to have his team at full strength.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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