Portugal and Ireland cross paths again as Cristiano Ronaldo nears another landmark

, however, this description underestimates both his playing talents and his astrological status, which received a significant upgrade in 2015 when an entire galaxy was named after him.in what might well be his last international on home soil. In a senior international career of 21 years and counting, Ronaldo has scored 128 goals in 206 matches and is in the happy position of breaking records every time he takes to the field.

The reverse fixture two months later at Lansdowne Road finished 0-0, with Ronaldo returning to the city where he made his Real Madrid debut at Tallaght Stadium in 2009. The only other time that Ireland and Portugal were in the same World Cup qualifying group was for the 2002 tournament. This proved much more memorable for the Boys in Green, with the countries playing out a pair of 1-1 draws that enabled both to qualify for the finals at the expense of the Netherlands.

Although Portugal and Ireland joined Fifa on the same day in 1923 they did not play against each other until 1946. Portugal won that friendly in Lisbon 3-1 in what was Ireland’s first international for seven years. In 1972 the countries met in the Brazilian Independence Cup in Recife, with Portugal winning 2-1 in a match in which José Mourinho’s goalkeeper father Félix won his only international cap as a late substitute.

In 2010 Sporting Fingal played the only European tie of their short existence against Marítimo in the Europa League, with the Portuguese side progressing 6-4 on aggregate. The following year Dublin was the venue for the only all-Portuguese European final ever, when Porto beat Braga 1-0 to win the 2011 Europa League at

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