Legendary Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty but still managed to break the record for most goals in men’s international football with two goals in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Ireland in World Cup qualifiers Group A on Wednesday.
John Egan gave Ireland the lead in the 45th minute of the football match. Ronaldo then scored his 110th goal in the 89th minute to level Portugal and break former Iran striker Ali Daei’s record for most goals in men’s international football. Earlier in Euro 2020 Ronaldo, who returned to Manchester United, had equalized Ali Daei’s record of 109 international goals.
Later in injury time Ronaldo then hit the net scoring his 111th goal in the 180th match and ensured Portugal’s victory. Ronaldo said after the match, “I am very happy, not just because I broke the record but for the special moments that we got. It is so difficult to score two goals in the final moments of the match but I have to appreciate what the team did. We kept the faith till the end.”
However, the former Juventus striker did not have a good start to the match and Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu blocked his penalty kick in the 15th minute. Gavin was just two years old when Ronaldo scored his first goal for Portugal at the 2004 European Championships.
With this win, Portugal is leading the group with 10 points from four matches. Serbia’s team is three points behind but did not play on Wednesday. Luxembourg beat Azerbaijan 2-1 and is in third place, one point behind Serbia.
Cristiano Ronaldo played three years for Juventus after joining the Turin club from Real Madrid in 2018. He has now again joined Manchester United on a football transfer where he played from 2003 to 2009 scoring 118 goals in 292 matches.
