Cristiano Ronaldo shrugged off his recent sadness with a thrilling goal-scoring performance in Portugal's win over Luxembourg.
Ronaldo back to his best for Portugal in win over Luxembourg
Cristiano Ronaldo shrugged off his recent sadness with a thrilling goal-scoring performance in Portugal's win over Luxembourg while Azerbaijan and Israel could not be separated.
Portugal star Ronaldo has been hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons amid speculation he could quit Real Madrid but he was at his best to inspire his country to come from a goal down to win 2-1 against Luxembourg in their opening 2014 World Cup Group F qualifier.
He drew his side level just before the half-hour mark after Daniel Da Mota Alves gave Luxembourg the lead, before he made a nuisance of himself in a top-class performance which saw Helder Postiga's strike earn the visitors a well-deserved win.
Azerbaijan and
Israel shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw in their opening qualifier in Baku on Friday night.
Visitors Israel took a 50th minute lead through Bebras Natcho but Azerbaijan were level within 15 minutes thanks to Ruslan Abusov.
In the early kick-off,
Northern Ireland lost 2-0 to Fabio Capello's
Russia as Viktor Fayzulin's first-half goal and Roman Shirokov's 78th minute hotly-disputed penalty sunk Michael O'Neill's team.
