CRISTIANO RONALDO was the star attraction — and inevitable had a big say — on his homecoming.
But it was not the result he had hoped for as Portugal blew a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 against Sweden.
Reigning Ballon d’Or and Fifa ‘The Best’ winner Ronaldo was playing his first-ever international match in his hometown of Madeira just a day before the local airport was to be officially named after him.
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It as only Portugal’s fourth match at the Estadio do Maritimo and their first for 16 years, and the 10,415 fans inside were ready to savour every minute.
Coach Fernando Santos made ten changes from the 3-0 victory over Hungary, with only Ronaldo keeping his place.
And the match was effectively a testimonial for the Real Madrid ace.
Before the match, the 32-year-old was presented with a commemorative plaque and lifted up the Euro 2016 trophy to his home crowd — which drew almost as a big cheer as when he first held it aloft in Paris eight months ago.
The fans were even louder when he first touched the ball just before the six-minute mark, despite him losing the ball immediately.
However, his second touch — 11 minutes later — resulted in the opening goal.
Gelson Martins put in an exquisite cross with the outside of his right foot, and Ronaldo ghosted in behind the Sweden defence to make it 1-0.
A first goal in his hometown of Madeira made it 86 different cities he has now scored in.
Christoffer Nyman blew a glorious opportunity before Ronaldo had a close-range shot parried over the bar.
And Portugal’s No7 was the architect for the second goal on 33 minutes when he played in Gelson Martins, and the Sporting Libson midfielder’s shot was turned into his own net by Sweden skipper, Andreas Granqvist.
Eder — who scored Portugal's winner in the Euro 2016 final — was one of four introductions at the break and received a hero's welcome when he entered the field.
Immediately after the break, Ronaldo went close again with a free-kick which went just over, much to the disappointment of his adoring fans.
There were then deafening by his adoring fans after he was flattened by the onrushing goalkeeper — just moments before the visitors pulled one back through Viktor Claesson.
And immediately after the goal, it was time for Ronaldo to bid farewell — and he lapped up the applause as was replaced by Ricardo Quaresma.
Following the skipper's withdrawal, Portugal collapsed as Claesson raced clear to level.
And then it all went wrong when Joao Cancelo agonisingly put through his own net with the last kick of the game.
But it was still another special occasion for Ronaldo.
Despite clearly saving himself for a big match against Alaves on Sunday, the Real Madrid superstar still had a major say on the night.
Portugal: Marafona; Luis Neto, Bruno Alves, Eliseu ('46 Nelson Semedo); Joao Cancelo, Joao Moutinho ('46 Pizz), Danilo ('46 William Carvalho), Renato Sanches; Cristiano Ronaldo ('58 Ricardo Quaresma), Bernardo Silva ('46 Eder), Gelson Martins ('77 Andre Gomes).
Sweden: Karl-Johan Johnsson; Emil Krafth, Andreas Granqvist ('46 Pontus Jansson) Filip Helander ('89 Omar Hilijemark), Niklas Hult; Viktor Claesson, Sebastian Larsson, Jakob Johansson, Sam Larsson ('66 Jimmy Durmaz); Kliese Thelin, Christoffer Nyman.
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