CRISTIANO RONALDO HAS taken his haul of international goals with Portugal to 93 and record-holding Ali Daei claims he would be happy to be knocked from a lofty perch by the Juventus superstar.
The legendary Iran striker was a prolific presence throughout his iconic career.
In the colours of his country, he netted 109 times in 149 appearances.
That return remains the highest in world football, but Ronaldo has that mark in his sights.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has made a habit of re-writing the history books and intends to add another chapter to his remarkable tale.
Ronaldo found the target on four occasions in his most recent outing for Portugal, taking him onto 93 goals in 160 outings.
He sits second on the all-time charts behind Daei, with further daylight being established between himself and Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas (84).
If he can steer clear of injury, it is expected to be only a matter of time before Ronaldo moves to the summit.
He is now 34 years of age, but is showing no sign of slowing down for club and country.
Daei, who took in his last outing for Iran in 2006, has occupied top spot for well over a decade now.
He is, however, prepared to accept that one of the greatest players to have ever played the game is likely to top his achievements at some stage.
Daei told IRNA News: “Records are for breaking; I did it when it was my turn, and it will be someone else’s turn to beat my record next. It’s not a big issue.”
Ronaldo is already the all-time leading goalscorer in Real Madrid’s illustrious history, after spending nine memorable years at the Santiago Bernabeu, and has netted a record-breaking haul of Champions League efforts, with 126.
He continues to raise the bar when it comes to individual excellence, alongside eternal rival Lionel Messi, and Daei admits there would be no shame in slipping behind the Portuguese great.
“No, why should I be upset?” he added.
Ronaldo is a great player with many honours in the world of football. He is on top form right now.”
Ronaldo helped Portugal to European Championship glory in 2016 and to the Nations League crown in 2019.
He is now chasing down a place at Euro 2020 and is expected to still be terrorising opposition defences by the time the World Cup finals head to Qatar in 2022.
With the warm-up games out of the way, Murray, Bernard and Gavan discuss the renewed cause for optimism, impressive individual player form, and a potential quarter-final versus either South Africa or New Zealand.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
What’s with all the hate for the author? Get a life lads
Fight me
Poor article but leave the man alone, he’s just trying to put stew on the table like the rest of us
That’s rich coming from you Hightower after I seen you commenting racist jokes on an article only last night
After you saw, please spell it right John it’s my biggest peeve.
Ah shut up ya meath p***k
Anything a better than a Paul Fennessy article though.
Hate????
I can read Eoin casually enough and his articles are generally nice to read. I find the other journalists articles are often poor opinion pieces that are badly researched. I can also tell it’s his piece after a few sentences, and I don’t enjoy reading his style of writing either.
I’ve also seen him argue with posters in the comments section when they don’t agree with his piece which looks sloppy to me. He doesn’t like criticism.
Wow, ease up lads! I thought it was an interesting piece.
Its not like hes been playing there for a year now oh wait
“Footballer turns out for club” would be a better headline
‘Keyboard Warrior Who’s Never Written An Article In His Life Thinks He Can Act Hard’ would be a good one for you no?
If you’ve nothing nice to say, say nothing.
Eoin if your where any good at your job you’d know that it’s his agents greedy fee that’s holding up the transfer, not pogba, not Utd , and not Woodward .
I thought ‘mummy’ was the agent for her three boys.
I hope United pull out of this saga soon. Being held to a ransom by an agent is embarrassing for the club. And not to mention the fee for a player who clearly wants to play elsewhere. Surely there is better value in the market.
Poor
Which Guinea , there’s 3 !