Cristiano Ronaldo became the leading goal-scorer in international football as his two late goals in the game against Ireland put him in an elite list of legends.
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15 years. In short, 182 months or 5479 days. This was the number of days that the record had stood for the most goals in international football. For a long time, the tally of 109 goals by Iran’s Ali Daei seemed to be the benchmark for excellence. Only one individual in the history of football had scored over 100 goals. The great Pele, Maradona and Lionel Messi had not even touched that landmark. But, on September 2, 2021, the unthinkable happened. Ali Daei’s record was broken. The person who broke the record is one of the greatest in the business.
When Cristiano Ronaldo scored two late goals to boost Portugal to a 2-1 win against Ireland, he had created history. Ronaldo, who has many club records in his brilliant career, pushed the bars of excellence in international football. His two goals saw him go past Ali Daei’s tally of 109. Ronaldo now has 111 goals in 180 international caps. With the amount of football that has been played, it will be very difficult for anyone to catch Ronaldo. With another couple of years in his career left, Ronaldo might create records in a way that might never be broken.
Currently, Ronaldo is the toast of England for having made the switch back to Manchester United. It was in United during his formative years that he attained the level of excellence that we are seeing now. Apart from Manchester United, his exploits with Real Madrid as well as with Juventus are proof that he is the complete footballer. He has won UEFA Champions Leagues, La Liga, Premier League and Serie A titles in a dominant fashion.
But, less highlighted are his international exploits. Cristiano Ronaldo is the leading goal-scorer in the history of the Euro competitions. He has scored in all the five editions of the Euro that he has featured him, making this feat the rarest of rare. It was in 2016 that Ronaldo featured in Portugal’s first-ever international win when they won the Euro competition. Five years before Lionel Messi’s drought ended in the Copa America, Ronaldo had already secured history for Portugal.
Perhaps, his most notable contributions have been in the FIFA World Cup. In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo hit a hat-trick against Spain and it is remarkable that he has also scored in all the FIFA World Cups that he has featured in. He might have only scored seven goals in the FIFA World Cup, but he is only three behind his country’s all-time tally led by Eusebio, who hit nine in 1966. Ronaldo has one more World Cup left in him and the possibility of breaking many records is still there. With age, Ronaldo is only getting better. His goal-scoring abilities are only becoming better and with the international record now broken, Ronaldo can only get better.
The lure of success in the 2022 FIFA World Cup is what is motivating Ronaldo to keep going. The World Cup is potentially the last time that Ronaldo and Messi might square off on the football field. Age is not on the side of both the legends and 2022 is probably the last time that both will go for glory.
Ronaldo is also the leading goal-scorer in all of football, scoring a total of 785 goals in all competitions combined. There might be a dispute over previous generations where some players have recorded over 800 goals, but the current era has seen Ronaldo surpass all records of goal-scoring.
After the end of the Ireland match, Ronaldo spoke about the feeling of breaking the record. “I’m very happy, not only because I beat the record but for the special moments that we had. Two goals at the end of the game is so tough, but I have to appreciate what the team did. We believed until the end,” Ronaldo stated.
The belief of Ronaldo is simply magnificent. But, when he was picked by Manchester United in 2021, there were many sections that were pointing out to the dark underbelly of his personal life. Ronaldo is a rape-accused and he had given money to the victim to silence her. The Nevada rape case is a big blot on Ronaldo’s career, but the accusations and counter-accusations have never stopped.
The blot on his career aside, Ronaldo on the pitch has been an absolute demon. The leading goal-scorer in the world in club level and now at the international level is now eyeing more glory. Ronaldo has nothing left to prove when it comes to club glory. He has won everything that needs to be there. He has also won Euro, which has partly fulfilled his international destiny. But, his main aim will be the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. If Ronaldo can fulfill that, then the tag of greatness will remain with him for a long time. It might be difficult, but Ronaldo is pushing the barriers of excellence every single day in football.
