Despite being the key player for Portugal’s national side, Ronaldo wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders at Euro 2016 moving into the final group match against Hungary. Portugal needed at least a point to qualify for the knockout stages after drawing their opening two games, and ‘CR7’ had failed to score against Iceland and had even missed a penalty against Austria in a poor performance.
Hungary took the lead in the crunch game before Ronaldo showed a flash of his brilliance by assisting for Nani’s equaliser. Portugal were then shocked when the Hungarians went in front again, only for the Real Madrid man to really prove his worth minutes later.
Joao Mario found the ball on the right-hand side of the pitch and fired a cross into the box, and despite being closely marked, Ronaldo somehow caught the ball with a back-heeled, right-footed flick that sent it flying into the net. The speed of thought that the goal required was incredible – and made ‘CR7’ the first man to score in four successive European Championships.
Hungary went onto regain the lead, but of course, Ronaldo then struck for a second time – with a bullet header – to equalise.