Portugal may have scored the best team goal of the year in Thursday’s 4-0 win over Nigeria.
Fernando Santos’ side ran riot in their final warm-up game before flying out to Qatar for the World Cup.
Two goals from Bruno Fernandes in the first half put Portugal in a comfortable position before Goncalo Ramos and Joao Mario netted late on.
Mario’s strike has gone viral on social media thanks to the lovely build-up play that preceded it.
Joao Felix, arguably the best player on the night, collected the ball out wide before playing it to Raphael Guerreiro.
He scooped a lovely ball into the box for Felix, who plucked it out of the air to flick to Ramos.
The Benfica man was surrounded by Nigeria defenders. So, he improvised with a flick of his own for Mario, who fired into an open net.
It capped off a fine performance for Portugal, who were without captain Cristiano Ronaldo due to a stomach bug.
Fans think Portugal could be dark horses for this year’s tournament if they continue to play scintillating stuff like that.
One person said: “Portugal play more freely without Ronaldo I can’t believe my eyes.”
Another tweeted: “Joao Felix free from Diego Simeone is a completely different player.”
Someone put: “Santosball got me feeling something here.”
While a fourth added: “Ronaldo I promise you I love you but you have to hold the bench if Portugal needs to go far, think of the big picture.”
Santos was asked about Ronaldo in the build-up to the game. The Manchester United forward gave an explosive interview to Piers Morgan this week, in which he criticised club manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo has scored three goals all season but remains Portugal’s talisman. He helped them to Euro 2016 glory and has scored a whopping 117 goals at international level.
When quizzed about his place in the starting XI, Santos replied: “Forced? This is not about forcing me. This is not a requirement.
“No one is forced to do anything here. The question could be, you could ask me, based on what Cristiano Ronaldo did [in recent weeks on the pitch] should he start?
“This is valid for Cristiano Ronaldo and all the players who are with the national team. If the head coach is forced to put a player in the XI…there aren’t those things here.”
