The Portuguese national team secured a valuable 2-1 victory over their German counterparts in a thrilling encounter on Wednesday evening at the Munich Arena, as part of the UEFA Nations League semi-finals.
Despite an early lead for Germany through Florian Wirtz in the 48th minute, Portugal responded emphatically. The equaliser came from Francisco Conceição in the 63rd minute, before the captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, added the decisive winning goal in the 68th minute, solidifying his position as one of the tournament’s leading scorers.
Ronaldo’s Historic Achievements and Breaking the German Curse
“The Don” continued to make history, raising his tally to 137 goals in 220 international appearances. Ronaldo also became the first European player to score two international goals after the age of 40, having brought his haul to 7 goals in the current edition of the tournament, demonstrating his exceptional enduring capability.
This victory not only granted Portugal a spot in the continental final for the second time, following their triumph in the inaugural edition in 2019, but also ended a streak of negative results against Germany. This marks their first official win against “Die Mannschaft” since 2000 and only their second on German soil since 1985, representing a significant shift in the historical encounters between the two teams. For his part, Florian Wirtz continued his impressive form with the German national team, having contributed 8 goals in his last 8 matches across various competitions.