Cristiano Ronaldo has received a Guinness World Record after reaching 200 international caps for Portugal.
The legendary forward made his 200th appearance for Selecao das Quinas in their Euro 2024 qualifier against Iceland. The 38-year-old has broken another record and is the most-capped player in international football.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s achievement has been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records. The Portugal captain was presented with a certificate for his accomplishment before his nation’s clash against Iceland.
Fittingly, Ronaldo marked the occasion by scoring the winner in the 89th minute as Portugal won 1-0 against Iceland, who had been reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Willum Thor Willumson.
The 38-year-old turned home Goncalo Inacio’s header with a poacher’s finish and celebrated wildly.
Ahead of the game against Iceland, Ronaldo said: ‘Two hundred games played proves the love I have for my country.
‘For me it is an extremely important milestone. It means a lot. [Two hundred] is a beautiful number that [no men’s player] has.
‘I’m very proud because this is something I never thought I could reach. And I’m continuing to set records.’
At the World Cup in Qatar last year, Ronaldo became the first male player to score in five World Cups.
He also holds the record for the most international hat-tricks with ten.
It is yet another record to add to Ronaldo’s long list of accomplishments in international football. The Al Nassr frontman is the all-time top goalscorer in international football with 123 goals in 200 games to date.
The legendary forward is showing no signs of stopping and isn’t intending on doing so anytime soon. The 38-year-old spoke this week about his future with the Portugal national team. He stated:
“I’ll stay here until I, the [football federation] president and the coach believe I can. I’ll never give up coming here, because it’s always a dream. Representing the national team is the height of the career. I want to keep playing, make my family, friends and Portuguese happy.”
Ronaldo made his debut for Selecao back in 2003 at the age of 18. He won the 2016 European Championships with his national team and could be eyeing next year’s edition of the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been in Saudi Arabia since January when he made a groundbreaking move to Al Nassr.The iconic forward’s arrival has been the catalyst for plenty more European stars to head to the Middle East.
The latest to do so is Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves, who will be playing for Saudi giants and Cristiano Ronaldo’s rivals Al Hilal next season.
Ronaldo and Neves are also joined in the Saudi Pro League by Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante. The French duo have joined champions Al Ittihad.
Credit: sportskeeda, dailymail
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