‘Ronaldo has an incredible mind’ – Coach heaps praises on star

Portugal coach Fernando Santos has heaped praises on Cristiano Ronaldo after the winger scored a hat-trick to secure a 3-3 draw against Spain in their 2018 World Cup group B clash on Friday.

Ronaldo, who now has 51 hattricks to his name, has now scored in four World Cups and eight major international competitions with Portugal.

The Real Madrid star opened the scoring in the 4th minute with a penalty, the fastest in a World Cup game since 1966; but his effort was cancelled by a Diego Costa equaliser on 24 minutes.

The reigning FIFA Best player took his side ahead again before halftime, but second-half goals by Costa and Nacho turned the table around for Spain.

Despite Spain dominance, Ronaldo kept on pushing, wins a freekick close to the box on 88 minutes, and beautifully converts it to now sit as the top scorer so far in the tournament.

Read Also: #WorldCup: FT: Portugal 3-3 Spain – Ronaldo hits hattrick in thriller

“Cristiano Ronaldo has incredible mental endurance, he has technical quality and an incredible mind – that is what makes him one of the best in the world,” the coach said after the game.

“When it was 3-2 he was the one who raised his team. He plays in great teams, is always in great finals so that gives him a different perspective.”

Speaking also after the match, Ronaldo said: “I’m very happy, it is a personal best (the hat-trick), one more in my career. But the most important thing is to highlight what the team has done.

“We have played one of the favorite teams to win the World Cup.

“The game was about to end and we managed to equalise so we are happy. Now we have to think about the next match, it is going to be hard, but our goal is to win and to move on from the group stage.”

Portugal will play Morocco in their next game, as Spain face group leaders Iran.

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