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Ahead of Portugal’s 3-2 win over Slovakia on Friday night, rumors of Cristiano Ronaldo receiving the ’99 flogging’ began to spread in Iran.
Iranian media claimed the 38-year-old player was facing punishment for hugging a female painter during a recent visit to the country while playing for Al-Nassr.
In Iran, hugging an unmarried woman is considered ‘adultery’.
And with Portugal in action against Slovakia later in the day, it was something that threatened to loom over that match.
Iran has made its position clear by refuting claims that Cristiano Ronaldo will be punished.
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Since then, the Iranian embassy in Madrid has denied the claims.
But it was still a topic of discussion before the match, with Portugal looking to seal their place at next summer’s European Championships.
However, Ronaldo has never been one to shy away from the limelight.
And he seemed to take the pressure on his shoulders and issued the perfect response by scoring twice on a positive night for his team.
Ronaldo is 38 years old. He is no longer the same player he was during his prime years at Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus.
However, when it comes to scoring goals, the veteran remains in a class of his own and clearly still has the magic of his past.
Ronaldo scored first from the penalty spot, with the forward converting the ball from 12 yards after Paris Saint-Germain hitman Gonçalo Ramos had opened the scoring.
Slovakia managed a consolation before Ronaldo scored again in the 72nd minute.
It means Portugal have now joined France and Belgium by qualifying for next summer’s showpiece event.
Despite entering the final stages of his career, Ronaldo is likely to play a big role.
Many had written him off after he burned his bridges at United and left by mutual consent last winter.
Ronaldo failed to shine at all at the World Cup in Qatar, as it appeared his team failed to take the competition by storm.
Portugal went into the competition as one of the favourites, having finally fielded a full squad.
Ronaldo started his first three matches against Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea.
However, he was left out of Ramos’s squad for the 6–1 win over Switzerland, after which he was selected again for the quarter-final clash with Morocco.
Ronaldo broke down after Portugal lost to the African team.
He cried as he walked down the tunnel, many people thought they had seen the golden old man on such a grand stage for the last time.
Yet Ronaldo isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, as he showed on Friday night.
He has now scored 125 goals for his country and when it comes to scoring the most international goals in football history, he has gone even further ahead of Iran’s Ali Daei.
Ronaldo was also playing for his country for the 202nd time. This is six more than Kuwait’s Badr Al-Mutawa, who has 196 caps to his name.
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Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring for Portugal in their 3-2 win over Slovakia on Friday night
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And with Portugal now guaranteed to be at the Euros next summer, Ronaldo will be hoping to get his chance to lead his team to glory.
Looking at the current form, it looks like something like this will happen.
