By – Devanshi Srivastava
In World Cup qualification, Portugal defeated visiting Ireland 2-1 in the last match of the group stage. Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty but still scored twice to break the men’s international scoring record.
Ronaldo scored his 110th goal in the 89th minute on Wednesday to go one goal ahead of former Iran striker Ali Daei in the all-time scoring charts.
After defender John Egan gave his country the lead in the 45th minute, Ronaldo broke the hearts of the Irish for the 111th time in 180 games six minutes into stoppage time.
“I’m overjoyed, not just because I broke the record, but also because of the memorable experiences that we shared,” Ronaldo added.
“Scoring two goals towards the conclusion of a game is very difficult, but I have to admire what the squad accomplished. We held on to our convictions to the very end.”
However, Ronaldo, who has returned to the Premier League to join Manchester United, is still 76 goals behind the most prolific international scorer in the game. Christine Sinclair, 38, scored her 187th goal for Canada in the Tokyo Olympics this month, making her the youngest player to do so.
Up until the late heroics, Ronaldo’s night had been a miserable one.
Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu made a great stop from Ronaldo’s penalty shot in the 15th minute. Bazunu was only two years old when Ronaldo scored his first international goal for Portugal as a thin winger at the 2004 European Championship.
Ronaldo’s lone major championship with Portugal came in the 2016 Euros.
Despite the fact that he was the leading scorer at this year’s European Championship with five goals in four games, his team’s championship defence came to an end in the round of 16.
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