Ronaldo Never Once Fired A Shot At The Serbian Goal, Portugal Failed To Automatically Qualify For Qatar

Cristiano Ronaldo (Instagram @cristiano)

JAKARTA - Cristiano Ronaldo could not do much when Portugal was defeated by Serbia 1-2 in the final match of the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers, Sunday local time. The Selecao failed to qualify automatically for Qatar next year.

Ronaldo came close to taking the stage in the third minute of injury time with a spectacular effort that was unfortunately too high over the bar and floated just as Portugal's hopes of an automatic 2022 World Cup ticket were.

Overall, the performance of the Manchester United star was not too bright. Squawka noted that Ronaldo never fired a shot on target against Serbia.

Cristiano Ronaldo did not have a single shot on target against Serbia.

It’s the first time in this World Cup qualifying campaign that he has not hit the target at least once. 😩 pic.twitter.com/7kn0mJV1jG

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) November 14, 2021

As for Serbia, they recorded a dramatic victory because they had fallen behind due to a quick goal and only locked up the three points through a late goal just at the end of normal time.

Renato Sanches put the hosts ahead with an early goal with less than two minutes left, chasing a wild ball after Bernardo Silva had troubled Nemanja Gudelj in the Serbian defence.

Serbia came close to giving an instant answer but Dusan Vlahovic's shot still hit the post and the Fiorentina striker's strike on the ball bounced high from the target.

Serbia's hard work finally paid off in the 33rd minute, when Dusan Tadic's shot failed to be anticipated by goalkeeper Rui Patricio which sent the ball into the Portugal goal.

Both teams continued to struggle for victory and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was unable to lead Portugal to the goal they were looking for.

Portugal could have made it to the 2022 World Cup finals if they had drawn, but that ended in the 90th minute when Aleksandar Mitrovic scored for Serbia.

Starting with Tadic's superb cross to the far post, Mitrovic met it with a header that bounced off the grass enough to beat Patricio.

Serbia ended up winning Group A with 20 points, displacing Portugal (17) who had to settle for runner-up and will continue their struggle to Qatar through the play-off phase.

Portugal is still waiting for the results of the draw for their opponents in the semifinals of the European zone playoffs which will fight for the remaining three tickets to the 2022 World Cup finals in March next year.