Most Goals in International Football: Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, current Portugal captain, plays for Manchester United in England.
One name always comes forward when we talk about goal-scoring: Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, let’s see how Cristiano Ronaldo went from nobody to being the best in the world.
Born in Madeira:
Cristiano Ronaldo had a humble beginning in childhood.
As a child, Ronaldo played for Andorinha from 1992 to 1995.
Where his father was the kit man and later spent two years with Nacional.
He went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP in 1997, when he was 12, and was signed for £1,500.
He afterwards relocated from Madeira to Alcochete, close to Lisbon, to join Sporting’s development academy.
Ronaldo was promoted from Sporting’s youth squad at the age of 16 by first-team manager László Bölöni, who was pleased with his dribbling.
He subsequently became the first player to play for the club’s under-16, under-17 and under-18 teams, the B and the first teams, all within a single season.
A year later, on September 29, 2002, Ronaldo made his Premier League debut against Braga, and on October 7, 2002, he scored two goals in a 3-0 win over Moreirense.
His representatives pitched the player to Joan Laporta, president of Barcelona, and Gérard Houllier, manager of Liverpool, throughout the 2002–2003 season.
Manager Arsène Wenger, interested in signing Ronaldo, met with him at Arsenal’s grounds in November to discuss a possible transfer.
Forged In Manchester:
Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, was determined to sign Ronaldo permanently as soon as possible after Sporting defeated United 3-1 at the Estadio José Alvalade’s opening in August 2003.
United initially planned to sign Ronaldo and loan him back to Sporting for a year.
Having been impressed by him, the United players urged Ferguson to sign him.
After the game, Ferguson decided to give Sporting £12.24 million in exchange for what he called “one of the most exciting young players” he had ever seen.
And in six years, Cristiano Ronaldo will become the best player in the world.
He will win 3 Premier League, 1 Champions League, and other achievements.
And individually, he won the 2008 Ballon d’Or, UEFA best player, and PFA player of the year.
However, Ronaldo thought he had won almost everything at Manchester and was looking for a new challenge.
And that challenge came pretty soon.
A Made Man in Madrid:
Florentino Perez was re-elected as President of Real Madrid and promised to sign Cristiano Ronaldo.
At first, United resisted the chance to let Cristiano go, but they relented.
And Cristiano Ronaldo will become the highest-paid Football player ever.
After having a tepid start to his Real Madrid career, the arrival of Jose Mourinho changed everything for him.
Jose Mourinho turned Cristiano into a goal-scoring monster.
Under Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo’s career peaked.
And from 2015 to 2018, he helped Real Madrid win three consecutively Champions League.
Also, he won 4 Ballon d’Or and 2 FIFA’s best player awards.
Then Ronaldo went to Juventus, spent three years in Turin and moved back to Manchester United.
And in the last twenty years, Ronaldo scored 698 club goals and is still counting.
However, his most significant achievement was for his national team Portugal.
Immortalised in Portugal:
Ronaldo began his international career with Portugal under-15 in 2001.
He was amassing 34 youth caps and scored 18 goals overall during his international youth career.
Aged 18, Ronaldo made his first senior appearance for Portugal in a 1–0 win over Kazakhstan.
He was subsequently called up for UEFA Euro 2004, held in his home country.
And scored his first international goal in a 2–1 group stage loss to Greece.
After converting his penalty in a shoot-out against England in the quarter-finals.
He scored the first goal in Portugal’s 2-1 victory over the Netherlands, which helped Portugal advance to the final.
He was featured in the tournament team, providing two assists in addition to his two goals.
Ronaldo set a World Cup finals record for the youngest goal scorer for Portugal at age 21 years and 132 days.
Following the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo would go on to represent Portugal in four qualifying games for Euro 2008, scoring two goals.
Captaining Portugal:
One day after his 22nd birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly game against Brazil on February 6 2007.
Ahead of Euro 2008, he was given the number 7 shirt for the first time.
Unfortunately, Portugal was eliminated in the quarter-finals with a 3–2 loss against eventual finalists Germany.
Portugal faced another disappointment in the World Cup 2010.
Portugal’s World Cup ended with a 1–0 loss against eventual champions Spain in the round of 16.
And In Euro 2012 and the last group stage game against the Netherlands, Ronaldo scored twice to secure a 2–1 win.
He scored a header in the quarter-final against the Czech Republic to give his team a 1–0 win.
He was named man of the match in both games against the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
After the semi-finals against Spain ended 0-0, Portugal was eliminated in the penalty shoot-out.
After Portugal failed to qualify during the regular campaign.
Ronaldo scored all four of the team’s goals in the playoffs against Sweden.
It was billed as a battle between Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović, which ensured their place in the tournament.
His hat-trick in the second leg took his international tally to 47 goals, equaling Pauleta’s record.
Becoming Portugal’s top scorer:
Ronaldo scored twice in a 5–1 friendly win over Cameroon on March 5 2014, to become his country’s all-time top scorer.
Ronaldo put his career in danger by competing in the tournament despite having patellar tendinitis and an associated thigh issue.
Portugal was eliminated from the tournament at the close of the group stage on goal difference which consisted of Germany, Ghana, and the USA.
Winning his first international trophy:
Portugal was the underdog going into the tournament. However, they were resilient, and they went all the way.
Portugal won their first competitive trophy, and Ronaldo led it.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo scored three goals and two assists.
Ronaldo played his first professional match on his native Madeira island on March 28, 2017, beginning with a 2-3 friendly loss to Sweden at the Estádio dos Barreiros, following the Euro 2016 victory.
With the goal, he tied with Miroslav Klose on 71 goals as the third-highest scoring European in international football.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 victory against the Faroe Islands in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match, passing Pelé and tying Hussein Saeed for the joint-fifth-most goals scored in international football with 78.
Ronaldo scored four goals in a 5–1 away win over Lithuania in a Euro 2020 qualifying match.
With 25 goals, he broke the previous record and passed Robbie Keane (23 goals) as the player with the most goals at the UEFA European Championship qualifying.
Becoming the all-time topscorer:
On September 8 2020, Ronaldo scored his 100th and 101st international goals in a 2–0 away win over Sweden in a 2020–21 UEFA Nations League match.
After Ali Daei of Iran, he became the first male player from Europe to reach this milestone.
On September 1, Ronaldo scored two headed goals, with his second coming seconds before the full-time whistle, in a 2–1 home win against the Republic of Ireland.
He passed Ali Daei’s international record of 109 goals to become the sole record holder.
As of 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo has 117 goals for Portugal’s national team and will keep scoring and breaking records.
Who thought that someday a skinny winger from Madeira would become the greatest Portuguese player ever and score the most goals in International football?
Cristiano Ronaldo: The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.
SIUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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