The soccer icon is searching for to land the elusive World Cup trophy subsequent 12 months…
Republic of Eire supervisor Heimir Hallgrimsson believes Cristiano Ronaldo’s relentless starvation for objectives continues to drive Portugal forward of Thursday’s World Cup qualifier on the Aviva Stadium.
The 40-year-old ahead arrives in Dublin with a exceptional report of 225 worldwide caps and 143 objectives, together with a brace in final month’s 2-2 draw with Hungary in Lisbon.
Simply days earlier, Eire suffered a slender 1-0 defeat to the identical opponents, leaving their qualification hopes hanging by a thread.
Ronaldo noticed his penalty saved by Caoimhin Kelleher in that fixture, however Hallgrimsson is aware of the Al Nassr striker stays a relentless risk in entrance of purpose.
Requested about Ronaldo’s impression, the Eire boss stated: “The statistics communicate and reply that query. He’s nonetheless scoring objectives and breaking information.
“One of many the explanation why they’re such a singular attacking crew is his want to attain objectives. They are going to ship crosses, they are going to attempt to discover him all the time.
“Most groups when they’re profitable, they might cool the sport down, however Portugal wish to rating extra objectives and he is without doubt one of the the explanation why this Portuguese crew is a singular attacking crew.”
Eire go into the sport figuring out they have to take one thing from it to maintain their World Cup hopes alive.
Late heartbreak towards Portugal in Lisbon and a laboured win over Armenia have left them third in Group F, one level behind Hungary.
Ought to Hungary beat Armenia earlier within the day, Eire can be 4 factors adrift, needing a minimum of 4 from their closing two matches, together with a visit to Budapest on Sunday.
Regardless of the strain, Hallgrimsson insists Eire gained’t abandon their ideas. “Our strategy just isn’t going to vary, so we have to play a sure fashion versus Portugal whether or not we want a win or a draw,” he stated.
“We will’t go all-in towards a crew like Portugal, it’s not going to be a basketball match. Then we’ll take calculated dangers if we have to rating a purpose afterward within the sport.”