Cristiano Ronaldo added to his staggering goalscoring tally for Portugal once again this evening, but just how close is the Juventus star to establishing himself as the all-time leader on the international stage?
Luxembourg downed
Fernando Santos’ men were back in action a short time ago.
A Selecao made the trip to the Stade Josy Barthel, for a World Cup qualifying meeting with minnows Luxembourg.
Portugal headed into proceedings in search of a bounce-back result, still seething after seeing a deserved 3 points ripped away in controversial fashion versus Serbia over the weekend.
And, when all was said and done this evening, bounce back is precisely what Santos and co. managed.
After surprisingly falling behind to a Gerson Rodrigues header on the half-hour mark, Diogo Jota continued his fine recent spell of form in front of goal with the equaliser on the stroke of the interval:
Neto ➡️ Jota
The Premier League duo combined to drag Portugal level against Luxembourg pic.twitter.com/DqCPjfSs9W
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 30, 2021
Cristiano Ronaldo then put the visitors in front early in the 2nd-half, volleying home Joao Cancelo’s cross from the right.
And Portugal went on to kill off any remaining hope of a Luxembourg comeback 10 minutes from time, when substitute Joao Palhinha netted his first goal on the international stage.
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As outlined above, though, whilst it proved a special evening for Palhinha on Tuesday, it is teammate and captain Cristiano Ronaldo who has since taken centre stage in the post-match chatter.
This comes with the veteran attacker having netted just the latest in a historic string of goals for his country versus Luxembourg:
And breathe… 😅
After an early scare, Cristiano Ronaldo now has Portugal ahead against Luxembourg pic.twitter.com/cekrTempXr
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 30, 2021
All told, Ronaldo has now racked up an eye-watering 103 goals in Portugal’s colours.
This leaves the Juventus standout just six adrift of Iranian icon Ali Daei’s all-time record of 109, and means it is not out of the question that Ronaldo could go on to establish himself as the greatest goalscorer in the history of the international game at this summer’s European Championships.
Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 103 goals for Portugal.
Edging closer to Ali Daei’s record (109). pic.twitter.com/gRgH6dstXr
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) March 30, 2021
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