Cristiano Ronaldo: Portugal "deserved" to qualify for World Cup

Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has said that his side deserved to beat Sweden over two legs in their World Cup qualifying playoff tie.

The 28-year-old scored a hat-trick against the Swedes in the second leg in Stockholm on Tuesday as the Euro 2004 finalists progressed to next summer's tournament 4-2 on aggregate.

"We were better in the first and the second game, I'm happy to once again have helped the team to win," Sky Sports News quotes him as saying. "I think we deserved it 100%."

"We let Sweden grow in confidence and we retreated and suffered but that's part of the spectacle of football," added the Real Madrid forward. "We reacted well and we ended up winning.

"I do not compete against Zlatan [Ibrahimovic], he is a fantastic player and biggest star in Sweden, but I do not compete against him. I play for my team."

Ronaldo had scored the only goal in the first leg in Lisbon last Friday which Portugal won 1-0.