Ronaldo double helps Portugal seal big win in Bosnia

BOSNIA, Oct 17 (AFP): Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice as Roberto Martinez's relentless Portugal thrashed Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-0 on Monday in Euro 2024 qualifying.
Portugal, which booked its place at the tournament in Germany next summer with a win over Slovakia last Friday, continued its superb form under the Spanish coach with its eighth victory in eight games since he arrived.
Ronaldo netted his 126th and 127th Portugal goals, further extending his record as the top all-time men's international goalscorer.
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes added the third before Barcelona duo Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix joined in the fun, all before half-time.
Bosnia, led by veteran target man Edin Dzeko, languish fifth and can no longer progress from the group after Slovakia beat Luxembourg 1-0.
Bosnia has two games remaining and is seven points behind second-placed Slovakia in Group J, with Portugal the runaway leader.
Martinez's side have scored 32 goals and only conceded twice, racking up all 24 points possible so far.
Al-Nassr striker Ronaldo, 38, opened the scoring from the penalty spot and dinked home his second with a neat finish, but was replaced by Martinez after 65 minutes, while still in search of his hat-trick.
The former Real Madrid forward was also confronted by a pitch invader shortly before half-time, but stewards swiftly intervened.
Fernandes and Cancelo finished with sublime accuracy and power as the hosts' defence crumbled miserably, while Felix stroked in the fifth.
Bosnia tightened up in the second half, but it was far too little, far too late.
In another match, The Netherlands got back on course to qualify for Euro 2024 by beating Greece 1-0 in Athens after a late penalty from captain Virgil van Dijk settled a bad-tempered game on Monday.
Said the Liverpool centre-back: "We were expecting a tough encounter and it was. We wasted several opportunities to finish the match earlier. During the final minutes, Greece introduced two more strikers and we had to survive."
The Dutch are now second in Group B behind already-qualified France, who beat them 2-1 on Friday, and although they have the same number of points as Greece, Netherlands have the head-to-head edge after home and away wins.
Van Dijk's side have their destiny in their hands as they host Ireland on Nov 18 then travel to bottom side Gibraltar three days later.