On Sunday, Portugal suffered a shocking defeat against Serbia (1:2) in front of their fans in Lisbon in the last match of the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo is confident that he will lead the national team to Qatar.
"Football has shown us so many times that sometimes the desired goal is reached by detours. Yesterday's result is difficult, but it is not enough to throw us into depression," said the 36-year-old striker via Instagram.
A draw was enough for the Portuguese to win first place, in the end Serbia won and outplayed their rivals, going from 0:1 to 2:1.
Ronaldo had a hard time coming to terms with such an outcome, given that he was "stolen" in Belgrade with the winning goal at the end of the duel between the same rivals at the beginning of the qualifiers, when there was no VAR technology in the matches yet, and according to the TV footage, it was quite clear that the ball crossed the goal line with the score 2:2.
The world record holder for the number of goals in matches for the national selection (115) has no doubt that Portugal will be among the European teams that will fight for the title of world champion next year.
"The goal of appearing at the 2022 World Cup is still 'alive', and we know how to achieve it. There are no excuses. Portugal is going to Qatar," concluded Ronaldo.
The competition in the additional qualifications will be fierce. At the end of March next year, 12 national teams will compete for the remaining three places in the World Cup draw.
For now, it is known that along with Portugal in the playoffs, there will be Sweden, Russia, Scotland, North Macedonia, Wales, the Czech Republic and Austria, they will most likely be joined by Poland, and Italy or Switzerland, Finland or Ukraine, as well as the Netherlands, Turkey or Norway.
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