La Roja stops Cristiano: three goals, his best no goal and the 'injustice'

Few clubs and national teams in the world can boast of never having been a victim of Cristiano Ronaldo, whether with Sporting, United, Real Madrid, Juve or the Portuguese national team. With 742 goals between games with clubs and with his national team, few are the goals and goalkeepers that have prevented him from scoring in his career.

Tonight, he will have a new opportunity to increase his account against Spain. The Madeira striker is chasing the record of Iranian Ali Daei, top scorer in the history of international football, but the Red is one of the great walls that Cristiano Ronaldo has trouble jumping. In five games, the Portuguese has scored three goals but all were in the last match at the World Cup in Russia where he scored against Spain fourteen years after the first date.

This came in the summer of 2004. Cristiano Ronaldo would be the revelation player of that Euro Cup when he was still a young and fast winger with blonde highlights. Just a kid. That afternoon in Faro, the 17th (the 7th was owned by Figo) gave Vicente Rodríguez and Raúl Bravo the afternoon but they left without the goal award, although it was close. Even if, he went down to Spain in the group stage.

It also failed in 2010, the first time it crashed into the wall of Spain. La Roja and Portugal met in the second round of the World Cup with Cristano who had just arrived in Madrid. The Portuguese suffered from Queiroz's ultra-defensive approach that forced him to start and take advantage of his devilish speed too far from Casillas' goal. The Portuguese forced a few fouls and in one, with a shot poisoned by the treacherous effect of the Jabulani, he made life quite difficult for the Móstoles goal. His despair was increasing when he did not score the goal and FIFA did not miss a single shot of each expression of anger from Madeira. It was the other 7, David Villa, who scored the goal and gave the pass to Spain.

That same year, Cristiano had a half revenge. In a friendly like this Wednesday, Portugal won 4-0 with 7 playing with some anger. Spain subjected him to a double marking and the aids between the middle and the defense were constant to stop him. Before 10 minutes, Cristiano was uneasy after several clashes with the Spanish players and went hard to Busquets. Piqué, his former teammate at United, had to ask him to calm down. His moment came after half an hour. Carlos Martins left him alone with a good pass into the hole and Cristiano faced the area to make one of his best plays of his career. He sprinted towards the area, stopped dry and knocked down Piqué, stepped on it to avoid the pressure of Xabi Alonso from behind and threw a precious Vaseline that surpassed Puyol and Casillas who could do little more than watch and wait … for Nani he will touch it and annul the goal of 7 for offside. The anger of the now Juventus was anthological after getting his best no goal against the Spanish team.

A new setback and another half revenge

The Euro 2012 was a new anger for Cristiano Ronaldo against Spain. This time, both teams were in the semifinals and Cristiano was once again the focus of the Portuguese attack. Once again, the set piece was the way he sought to tear down the Spanish wall but could not. La Roja's defense came back to stop Madeira's and left empty in a match that ended 0-0 and had to be resolved on penalties. The forward waited for fifth to come but that never happened after the failures of Moutinho and Bruno Alves. There, he left an iconic image of these Iberian derbies: a short shot in which he appeared muttering to the camera repeatedly that the result seemed an “injustice” to him.

In Russia he almost found his redemption. In the 2018 World Cup, the 7 did a hat-trick to the Red. In minute 2, he took a penalty from Nacho that he himself scored, scoring his first goal against Spain. TOOn the edge of the break and with the help of De Gea, the Madeira player scored his second goal with a powerful shot from outside the area and made it 2-1 before the break. In 86, he achieved the third that put the final tie at three with a foul from the front that left everyone watching. A classic 'tomahawk' of the forward who did not get the full award of the three points against the National Team.

Today, another opportunity for the ex-Madridista to try to break the wall and get closer to the record he wants so much. As for a decade, he will meet again with Sergio Ramos, Busquets and Jesús Navas, the few that remain from those clashes in which he came out heads and final victory for La Roja.