Cristiano Ronaldo rolled back the years by scoring a spectacular bicycle kick as Portugal thumped Poland 5-1 in Friday’s UEFA Nations League contest to qualify for the competition’s quarter-finals.
The 39-year-old continues to captain his national team despite being in the twilight years of his career and remains deadly in front of goal as Poland’s defence found out first-hand.
Ronaldo started the encounter upfront and scored twice in the emphatic victory with Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, Rafael Leao and Chelsea’s Pedro Neto also finding the back of the net in the win.
The Real Madrid and Man United legend scored his first goal from the penalty spot to give Portugal a two-goal cushion, but it was his second strike that stunned those inside the Estadio do Dragao.
Ronaldo previously scored a stunning bicycle kick against Juventus in 2018 that is widely-regarded as the greatest goal in Champions League history, and while his latest strike wasn’t as incredible, it was still an impressive feat.
Portugal were attacking around the edge of Poland’s box in the final few minutes of regulation time before a quick-one two gave PSG midfielder Vitinha space to work a pass across goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Portugal’s 5-1 victory over Poland on Friday evening
Ronaldo scored an incredible bicycle kick in the dying embers of the match in Porto
The 39-year-old produced an acrobatic finish after latching onto a pinpoint cross
His pinpoint cross was perfectly weighted to find Ronaldo in acres of space at the back-post and the superstar striker duly obliged by rising into the air and making a stunning connection.
Ronaldo had to generate most of the power himself with Neto’s cross floated into the air but executed his effort perfectly, sending the ball back across goal and into the bottom corner with goalkeeper Marcin Bulka stranded.
The 50,000-seater stadium exploded as the ball nestled in the back of the net and a stunned Ronaldo sprinted off to celebrate, hitting his iconic siuuu celebration and pumping fists before being mobbed by team-mates.
Ronaldo ran off to celebrate emphatically after scoring the incredible strike
His goal put Portugal en route for a 5-0 cleansheet win over Poland only for Dominik Marczuk to score a consolation for the visitors just one minute later.
Supporters on social media were amazed by Ronaldo’s athleticism with one fan posting on X: ‘What a spectacular bicycle kick! Truly the GOAT.’
Another onlooker stated: ‘Almost 40 how is he still doing this?’ in reaction to the remarkable goal.
His two strikes against Poland move Ronaldo onto 910 career goals with the icon dreaming of reaching 1000 before retirement and has already scored 15 times for club and country this season.
