Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to give Portugal a 3-1 win over Switzerland in a Nations League semi-final featuring an extraordinary VAR incident on Wednesday. Ronaldo’s stunning first-half goal put Portugal ahead from a free kick in the 25th minute, his first goal for his country for nearly a year.
But the Swiss equalised with a penalty kick after halftime which will raise more questions over the use of the VAR system.
Ronaldo made the crucial difference late on, sweeping Bernardo Silva's cross into the corner of the net, before firing into the same spot 102 seconds later. He scored twice in the last three minutes to complete the 53rd hat-trick of his career and the seventh for his country.
This was after the Swiss had dominated for the final half hour and threatened to snatch a shock win.
“There’s no adjective to describe him,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos. “He’s a genius. You can be a genius in art, and in sculpture and he is a football genius.”
“It was an intense match, very hard-fought, against a very well-organised Swiss team,” he added.
Swiss coach Vladimir Petkovic was left to rue a missed opportunity.
“We had the chance to get a second but didn’t take it. We got outnumbered at the back and conceded. Their top player made the difference,” he said.
Switzerland created some early openings while Ronaldo missed a good early chance for Portugal when he dragged his shot wide after the Swiss gave away possession in defence.
