He has left a pantheon of legends trailing in his wake. Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, the Brazilian Ronaldo, even the great Pele — none have scored as many goals for their country as Crsitiano Ronaldo. As he became the first non-Iranian player to cross 100 goals, possibly the greatest milestone of them all is now within touching distance.
“Records are part of me,” Cristiano Ronaldo once claimed. “I don’t follow the records. The records follow me.”
On Tuesday, Ronaldo rattled home a superb first-half free kick against Sweden for his 100th international goal — and struck another spectacular effort in the second half to seal a 2-0 Nations League win in Stockholm.
The 35-year-old has set his sights on Ali Daei’s record of 109 international goals but once again reminded that he is not obsessed with records. “I managed to beat this milestone of 100 goals and now (I’ll go) for the record. It’s step-by-step. I am not obsessed because I believe the records come in a natural way,” Ronaldo said.
However, he didn’t hesitate to term the new achievement historic, posting on Instagram: “Huge pride in this historic goal for our national team! When they tell me I can reach 100, I say it’s not enough… 101 goals for Portugal.”
“Yesterday he scored six or seven (free kicks) like that in training and today it went exactly the same way. It’s so good to have Cristiano on the team,” Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes said.
Ronaldo enjoyed his latest goals at Sweden’s Friends Arena, although the Portugal captain insisted he had no point to prove.
Portugal thrashed Croatia 4-1 last week without their talisman and that prompted suggestions that Portugal maybe better off without the goal-scoring machine.
“I didn’t follow the comments. It’s an opinion. I knew I had left a mark at this stadium and I knew that, if I played, I would leave a mark again. I don’t care about provocations. What I have done in my career speaks for itself. No, I have to prove nothing to anyone, and when I have to prove it, I show it on the pitch,” the Juventus forward said afterward.
On his milestone goal, Ronaldo said: “I am very happy. Firstly, because the team won, which was the goal we had. Then the 100 mark and then the 101, with two goals, makes me very happy. Now the future is only for God. I feel good, I feel good for playing with these young players.”