Dubai: There’s just no stopping Cristiano Ronaldo. Having already beaten Michel Platini's record for most goals scored at the European Championships, the 36-year-old Portugal forward has now reached another famous landmark. His two penalties last night against France have taken him to 109 international goals and that is a joint world record in men’s football.
On the form he is currently in and with Portugal progressing to the last 16, it looks a certainty that he will surpass Ali Daei who scored 109 goals for Iran between 1993 and 2006.
Now, the cynics may say that Daei’s goals were scored against lesser opposition (he thumped in 95 against fellow Asian teams) but on the other hand, Ronaldo has had 30 more games than Daei to get to 109 goals himself. And he has also faced the likes of Andorra and Luxembourg – hardly the best teams on the international stage.
Greatest of all-time
Like they say, you can only beat what's infron of you, and when he gets to 110, it will push the argument for the Juventus ace to be considered the greatest of all-time. Some say that accolade belongs to Lionel Messi. But, Ronaldo’s 109 goals in 178 games is well clear of the Argentine’s 73 in 147.
31 - World Cup qualifiers
19 - International friendlies
13 - European Championship
7 - World Cups
5 - Uefa Nations League
2 - Confederations Cup
Interestingly, nearly half of Ronaldo's strikes have come in the last 30 minutes of matches. Now we all know that he keeps himself at the absolute peak of physical fitness all the time, and this clearly seems to have given him an edge over his opponents. He just doesn’t seem to tire, even now at his advancing years.
89 of his 109 goals have been scored from inside the box (he has netted 14 penalties) and he has 9 free-kicks to his name too. He loves playing against Sweden the most as he has scored 7 times against them and with them having also progressed to the last 16, he will be hoping their paths cross.
And with five goals already at Euro 2020, he also has the chance to win his first Golden Boot at a major tournament.