Ronaldo brace helps Portugal to 3-0 friendly win over Ireland

AVEIRO, Portugal :Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in the second half in what might have been his last international appearance on home soil as Portugal beat Ireland 3-0 in their final Euro 2024 warm-up on Tuesday.

The home side took the lead in the 18th minute when Joao Felix drilled the ball into the net following a well-worked short corner, and four minutes later Ronaldo gave notice of his intent by thumping a deflected free kick off the far post.

The 39-year-old was not to be denied and he curled home a brilliant goal with his left foot early in the second half before adding another on the hour mark to take him to 130 international goals in 207 appearances for his country.

There has been speculation that Ronaldo, who played at his first Euros in 2004 and won the tournament in 2016, may call time on his international career or possibly even quit football altogether after this year's tournament in Germany, but team mate Ruben Neves says he still has a role to play.

"Phenomenal. I have no words to describe how it feels to play with him. Two more goals today, he finished very well the warm-up for the Euros, so the expectations are very high," Nevez told Irish broadcaster RTE.

"We know he will give 200 per cent to help the national team, and we count on him of course to score more goals," he added.

Portugal kick off their Euro 2024 Group F campaign against the Czech Republic in Leipzig in a week's time before facing Turkey and Georgia.