Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick sends Portugal into Nations League final
Cristiano Ronaldo hit a hat-trick as Portugal withstood a huge moment of VAR controversy to beat Switzerland 3-1 and reach the Nations League final on home soil in Porto.
Ronaldo's free-kick opened the scoring midway through the first half, but the Swiss levelled when the referee overturned his decision to award Portugal a penalty to give a spot-kick at the other end after a VAR review, and Ricardo Rodriguez levelled.
The game seemed destined to head for extra time, but as ever Ronaldo stepped up to be the hero with two expert finishes in the final two minutes.
Portugal made it to the last four without their all-time record goalscorer as Ronaldo took a hiatus from international football to concentrate on his first season at Juventus.
However, the five-time world player of the year returned to the national team in March and was always likely to be the centre of attention on a day when it was reported a rape lawsuit against him had been dropped.
In Porto, Ronaldo pulled his first big chance wide early on, but made the breakthrough on 25 minutes.
Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer was fooled by the wicked swerve as Ronaldo's free-kick from the edge of the area flew into his bottom...