Bittersweet return for Ronaldo as Portugal beaten by Sweden in Madeira, Russia fight back against Belgium
European round-up: Italy overturned a one-goal deficit to beat the Netherlands while Russia fought back to hold Belgium to a 3-3 draw
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Portugal 2 Sweden 3
Cristiano Ronaldo had a bittersweet homecoming.
The Real Madrid star was playing for Portugal in his hometown of Funchal on the Madeira Islands for the first time, and marked the occasion by scoring the opener in the 18th minute to take his tally of international goals to 71.
It tied him with former Germany striker Miroslav Klose in third place in the all-time list of European international scorers, behind Hungarian pair Ferenc Puskas (84) and Sandor Kocsis (75).
An own goal from Andreas Granqvist in the 34th put Portugal 2-0 ahead but Sweden staged a stirring second-half comeback, with Viktor Claesson scoring in the 57th and 76th minutes before Joan Cancelo's own goal won it for the visitors in the third and final minute of stoppage time.
Ronaldo was substituted in the 58th, when Portugal was leading 2-1.
Netherlands 1 Italy 2
Fred Grim's first and possibly only match in charge of the Dutch ended in another loss for a fallen giant of European soccer.
The Netherlands fired coach Danny Blind on Sunday, a day after a 2-0 loss to Bulgaria and with the nation struggling to qualify for next year's World Cup. The Dutch failed to qualify for Euro 2016, too.
Grim was placed in temporary charge but saw a 32nd-minute goal from Leonardo Bonucci seal victory for Italy.
The Netherlands took the lead in the 10th minute when a shot by Quincy Promes deflected off two Italy defenders into the net, with Alessio Romagnoli getting the final touch. Eder equalized a minute later.
Louis van Gaal, a potential new coach for the Netherlands, was in the stands for the match.
Russia 3 Belgium 3
Russia has now won just two of its last 13 games but, ahead of hosting next year's World Cup, this was an encouraging result against one of Europe's top teams.
Russia came from 3-1 down in the 76th minute to salvage a draw, equalizing in the second minute of stoppage time through Alexander Bukharov.
Viktor Vasin gave the Russians an early lead before Kevin Mirallas replied and Christian Benteke scored twice for Belgium, which is No. 5 in the world rankings.
Alexei Miranchuk then started the late fightback in the first soccer match at the 47,700-seat Fisht stadium in Sochi, which hosted the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in 2014.
Other results
Croatia conceded inside the first minute and then two more goals late on in a surprise 3-0 loss at Estonia.
Austria was held 1-1 by Finland, Iceland won 1-0 at Ireland, and Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Albania 2-1 away.
AP
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