Coach Santos decided to call Ronaldo back to Portugal to compete in the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Fans expect the presence of CR7, the reigning European champions will play more impressively and improve, when their opponent is Ukraine.
The return of superstar Ronaldo and home advantage help Portugal trust and easily "play" Ukraine. In the 16th minute, veteran center back Pepe had his first chance with a beautiful volley from outside the penalty area, forcing goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov to fly to save the goal.
A few seconds later, William Carvalho headed into the Ukrainian net but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Ronaldo - the most anticipated star on the Portuguese side, only left his first impression in the 23rd minute. That was a good dribble on the left wing, then a shot with the right foot, but could not beat goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov.
In the 27th minute, Ronaldo received the ball from his teammate on the left wing, the striker born in 1985 dribbled the ball into the penalty area, then fired a shot with his left foot in the near corner, but once again goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov predicted the direction the ball saved Ukraine.
Under pressure from Portugal, coach Andriy Shevchenko was forced to direct Ukraine to play defensive counter-attacking. The Eastern European side had created some stormy situations in front of Rui Patricio's goal, but their strikers lacked sharpness in the final shot.
In the second half, coaches Santos and Andriy Shevchenko both made adjustments to their players, but the gameplay did not change much, as Portugal continued to play offensively while Ukraine defended counter-attacking.
In the 57th minute, Andre Silva had the ball in the Ukrainian penalty area, the striker wearing a Sevilla shirt fired a powerful shot that sent the ball to the far corner of the goal, but goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov once again flew to save the goal excellently.
Having been repeatedly denied a goal by Andriy Pyatov, Coach Santos directed his players to play at a higher pace in the hope of a smooth start.
However, Ukraine played with focus and kept a clean sheet until the famous referee blew the whistle. Even Portugal almost paid the price in the 85th minute when Junior Moraes shot close to the goal into the sky at a distance of only about 5 meters.
In the end, Portugal drew 0-0 with Ukraine on the day Ronaldo returned. This is clearly a disappointing result for the reigning European champions.
On March 26, Seleccao will continue to play at home, facing Serbia in the second match of the EURO 2020 qualifiers.
