Cristiano Ronaldo and goals for Portugal, a match made in heaven.
The 34-year-old is a beast in front of goal domestically and he’s one of the few who carries his form into the international circuit.
After tonight’s 6-0 win over Lithuania, in which Portuguese legend scored his ninth international hat-trick, Ronaldo has now scored 98 goals for his country – a phenomenal record.
And his goal tally for Portugal since his 30th birthday is perhaps even more incredible.
That’s because Ronaldo has now scored 46 goals in 45 games for his country since turning 30, ridiculous stuff.
An astonishing record for a player who has arguably improved in the years that most players experience a serious decline in form.
Ronaldo’s second strike against Lithuania tonight was an absolute stunner as the Juventus man lashed home a powerful first-time effort from outside the box.
Who said Ronaldo has lost it, eh? Portugal’s other goals were scored by Pizzi, Goncalo Paciencia and Bernardo Silva to cap off another dominant performance from Fernando Santos’ side.
Ronaldo is now just 11 strikes of short of equalling Ali Daei’s all-time international goal scoring record for Iran.
Given how fit the Portuguese is, he could eclipse that record by some distance in the coming years.
A few more fixtures against Lithuania and San Marino in the qualifying rounds for the 2022 World Cup would certainly help his cause!
ANALYSIS
GIVEMESPORT’S Danny Ryan says: What else is there left to say about Ronaldo?
The guy just lives to find the back of the net and his goal record for Portugal is just outrageous.
If he can break Daei’s record and – maybe – guide his country to World Cup glory in 2022, he will go down as the greatest international player of all time.
Maurizio Sarri needs to find a way to get the best out of him at Juventus, because not playing to his strengths is only detrimental to the Bianconeri’s 2019/20 aspirations.
