Portugal drubs Rep. of Ireland 5-1 as Ronaldo makes successful return

Ronaldo in action against Ireland

Portugal thrashed Rep. of Ireland 5-1 in their last World cup warm-up game held in New Jersey.

Icing on the cake for the Portugal fans would be the successful return of their hero Cristiano Ronaldo after missing the last two friendlies due to thigh and knee problems. There were lots of doubts over Ronaldo’s fitness ahead of the World Cup but the Real Madrid star brought a sense of relief to the fans when he played for 66 minutes against Rep. of Ireland.

Though Ronaldo did not score any of the goals, he set up the second goal scored by Hugo Almeida. Also, Ronaldo moved around the field at ease and hit the post with a first-half free kick.

A relieved Paulo Bento said, “"It was important that he played and we would not hide it. It's good he is back. Considering he has been without competitive football for a few weeks, I think he did well." The coach was also happy about his team’s overall performance as Portugal eased past Ireland to victory

Portugal started the match in a commanding position as Almeida headed in from a Varela’s cross in the 2nd minute. It soon became 2-0 when Keogh scored an own goal off Coentrao’s cross. Only consolation for the Irish side was the goal scored by James Mclean just after the half-time.

Manchester United winger Nani replaced Cristiano Ronaldo in the 66th minute and went on to set up two more second-half goals for Vierinha and Coentrao adding more misery to the Irish side.

Portugal heads into the World Cup in a high note as they finished their warm-up with a morale-boosting 5-1 victory. However, Portugal face a strong German team in their first match on July 16 before playing USA and Ghana on July 22 and 26 respectively.