Ronaldo, top scorer in national history
Cristiano Ronaldo has passed Iranian Ali Daei and set a new world record for national goals by scoring his 110th and 111th goals in 180 appearances for Portugal, to turn the tide against Ireland (2-1) on Wednesday in Faro (south) in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
The 36-year-old striker, just transferred from Juventus to return to Manchester United, headed twice at the very end of the game (89th and 90th + 6), while Ireland had been leading since the end of the match. First period.
The five-time Golden Ball, who had missed the opportunity to open the scoring from the penalty spot at the start of the match, shared this record with Ali Daei, author of 109 goals in 149 games between 1992 and 2006, since the double signed against France to the Euro last June.
« Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo who is now one goal away from breaking the international goal scoring record (…) I am honored that this remarkable feat will soon belong to Ronaldo », then reacted the former Bayern Munich player.
Cristiano Ronaldo already accumulated the best scorer records in the history of the Champions League (134) and the Euro (14), but also European selections (84) or Real Madrid (450).
The native of Madeira, who started with Seleçao in August 2003, scored his first international goal against Greece, at the opening of Euro-2004 organized in Portugal.
Ireland, against which he had never scored, became Wednesday the 44th selection victim of the Portuguese gunner, author in particular of two quadruplets and seven triplets during his international career.
While Portugal will face Qatar on Saturday in a friendly, then Azerbaijan next Tuesday in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo will now have the opportunity to exceed the 180 selections of the Spaniard Sergio Ramos, not summoned with the « Roja » , to become the most capped player with a European selection.
