Goooooooaal from Cristiano Ronaldo ! During the friendly Portugal and Cameroon played on Wednesday, the striker added another record to his already stellar year, when he scored his 48th and 49th goal in 100 matches as an international.
In a convincing performance for Portugal, the best player in the world — as the Ballon d’Or award indicates — didn’t disappoint and showed, once again, why he is regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of our days.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice (21:00, 83:00) on Wednesday’s 5-1 victory over Cameroon , becoming the new record holder for his country in international appearances.
The rest of the goals were scored by Meireles (66:00), Coentrão (67:00), Edinho (77:00), and Aboubakar (73:00).
Before the friendly Cristiano was tied with Pauleta — who scored 47 goals in 88 national team matches — but today it was Ronaldo’s turn and at the 21st minute a beauty to the lower-left hand corner broke the tie at the top of his country’s leaders to become the all time scorer. The late Eusebio stands in third place with 41 goals.
“I don’t worry about breaking records, it something that happens naturally, with lots of dedication,” the 29-year-old star told RTP television.
Cristiano Ronaldo becomes Portugal’s all-time leading goalscorer. Congratulations CR7 http://t.co/e1H8SJhOk1 pic.twitter.com/l1TssAXrPk
— ESPN.co.uk (@ESPNUK) March 5, 2014
Cristiano Ronaldo scores tonight and he is a Portugal’s top goalscorer of all time #Enorme !! pic.twitter.com/pzKUokApEh
— Todos Madridistas (@SiempreRMCFyCR7) March 5, 2014
Congrats to Cristiano Ronaldo, for setting the Portugal scoring record with his 48th goal! pic.twitter.com/YoHlXbGkk2
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 5, 2014
But this is not the only record that Cristiano Ronaldo holds as part of the Potuguese National Team. He is the all-time top scorer in UEFA Euro matches (6 goals, tied with Nuno Gomes), most matches played in European Championship finals (14 matches tied with Luís Figo and Nuno Gomes), most matches played in World Cup finals (11 matches, tied with Simão Sabrosa), and the youngest player to reach 100 caps at 27 years, 8 months, and 11 days.
The verdict is still out as to who the best player in the world is. Cristiano Ronaldo is in a fierce fight with Argentine Lionel Messi for the title of “the best of the best.”
It may take many more years to answer the question as to who truly is the best footballer of our time. However, one thing is clear: Cristiano Ronaldo is trying hard to establish himself as the very best that ever lived. Bringing the FIFA World Cup home to Portugal would only help, and he would be ahead of Messi as he has not won with Argentina.
[Image via Rui Alexandre Araujo / Shutterstock.com ]
