Portugal boss Santos reveals Belgium's advantage ahead of last-16 tie

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Ronaldo equals Ali Daei record

Portugal managed to hold France to a 2-2 draw to ensure they went through to the knockout stages of the competition.

The current European champions were thankful to two penalty strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo in the process equalled the 109-goal record set by Ali Daei of Iran.

Daei congratulated Ronaldo on the achievement on his Instagram saying:

“Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo, who is now one goal away from breaking the men’s international goal scoring record,” wrote Daei on Instagram.

“I am honoured that this remarkable achievement will belong to Ronaldo – great champion of football and caring humanist who inspires and impacts lives throughout the world.

“Vamos!”

Ronaldo will now aim to break the record in their last-16 test with Belgium but faces a race of recovery with the Belgians getting a head start.

Much to the frustration of coach Fernando Santos.

Belgium’s head start

Asking after the game, Santos said that he will need to plan how to deal with the 48 hour advantage Roberto Martinez’s side have over his team.

“Resting is very important. We will have to mitigate this 48-hour difference,” he said.

“We want to recuperate the players and have them fresh for the next match. I thought for what they played today, they have managed to recharge their mental batteries and right now we have to eliminate the fatigue.

“We are going to face very high temperatures but this is not a handicap for us. We are going to study our opponent.”

Also bringing up the temperature element of the fixture to, despite claiming it was not an issue.

Is Santos getting the excuses in early for the reigning European Champions?

Belgium have a tough side of the draw. Should they go through their likely quarter final opponents will be undefeated Italy. Then the winners of France, Spain, Switzerland and Croatia.

It is starting to ramp up the pressure for Belgium’s best chance of an international title.