WATCH: Cristiano Ronaldo saves Portugal with stunning late goal

When Cristiano Ronaldo got hold of Nuno Mendes' ball towards the penalty area, it beat Diogo Jota, who was the initial Portugal runner, but not Ronaldo, who steered the ball towards an empty net, breaking Scotland's hearts. This turned out to be the great Portuguese forward’s 901th career goal but was the first ever for him against Scotland. 

However, in past instances, Ronaldo did edge closer as the goal always appeared imminent. The Scotland custodian, Angus Gunn, produced two outstanding stops. Firstly, he stopped Ronaldo's initial attempt before the ball was sent back into the area, but Gunn also made a fantastic save to deny Joao Felix.

🚨🚨| GOAL: RONALDO GIVES PORTUGAL THE LEAD!!!



Portugal 2-1 Scotland



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— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) September 8, 2024

Scott Mctominay, the new Napoli midfielder opened the scoring in the match earlier on, with a towering header from a set-piece. In the second half, Bruno Fernandes levelled the score with an effort from just outside the box. Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal sealed the game for Portugal and ensured that they ended the International break with two wins from their opening two games of their UEFA Nations League campaign

Cristiano Ronaldo reveals he is not ready for retirement as of now

Cristiano Ronaldo, a forward for Portugal, has denied rumours that he was thinking about quitting the national team soon and said he was not concerned about the criticism he received after the UEFA Euro 2024. Portugal, captained by Ronaldo, was eliminated from the Euro 2024 competition in the quarterfinals after a defeat to France.

During the press conference last week, he told the public that, “That’s all from the press. It never crossed my mind that my cycle [with Portugal] had come to an end. Quite the opposite: it gave me even more motivation to continue to be honest.”

The former Manchester United forward added that, “The motivation is to come to the national team to win the Nations League … We’ve already won it once, and we want to do it again. I might say the same thing over and over again. But I don’t think long term; it’s always short term.”