Cristiano Ronaldo fires blank, yellow-carded as Portugal bows out of UEFA Nations League despite late win

Portugal talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo was unable to put his name on the scoring sheet in the UEFA Nations League Group A3 clash against Croatia as they came back from behind to record a 3-2 win.

The closest the Juventus forward got was his freekick hitting the upright and it fell to the path of Ruben Dias to equalize for the visitors after Chelsea midfielder, Matteo Kovacic had put Croatia ahead against the run of play.

Portugal vence o último jogo de 2⃣0⃣2⃣0⃣! #VamosTodos #VamosComTudo

🇭🇷 2-3 🇵🇹#TeamPortugal wins the last game of 2⃣0⃣2⃣0⃣! pic.twitter.com/PbZdqMkf3h

— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) November 17, 2020

The five times world footballer of the year was later booked for simulation.

Athletico Madrid in-form striker, Jaox Felix then put Portugal ahead with a shot from 4 yards out following Marko Rog’s red card.

Kovacic then levelled matters for the hosts despite their numerical disadvantage.

Dias, who recently moved to Manchester City from Benfica then got his brace with a tap-in after goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic collided with Dejan Lovren from a corner to give the visitors the maximum points in the last minute.

Since Sweden lost 4-2 against France, in the other Group A3 clash, Croatia avoided relegation to the second tier while Portugal bows out with 13 points, three adrift of France. The difference between the two top teams was the 1-0 defeat suffered in Lisbon against Les Blue in their last match.

Ronaldo won’t have opportunity to lift 2020 UEFA Nations League

The result in Split means that there would be new champions in this year’s competition.

Portugal is the inaugural winner after defeating the Netherlands last season. The Orange could progress to the finals with a win against Poland – provided Italy fails to beat Bosnia.

With their ouster from the competition, Ronaldo and his lads will therefore be preparing for the Euros.

France has been joined by Spain in the finals. The remaining spots available could be occupied by either Belgium, Denmark, Italy or Netherlands. They will be playing their games tomorrow.