Euro 2024: Cristiano Ronaldo and able!

Cristiano Ronaldo broke the menrsquos international appearance record on Thursday and scored twice in Portugalrsquos 40 rout of Liechtenstein in Euro 2024 qualifyingRonaldo 38 who was dropped from the Portuguese playing XI during the World Cup in Qatar last year won a 197th cap for his country as a starter He netted a 51stminute penalty after earlier goals from Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva before netting a freekick 12 minutes laterA fine centuryIt was Ronaldorsquos recordextending 120th goal for his country and made him the first man to score 100 times in competitive internationalsldquoRecords are my motivation I want to become the most capped player in historyrdquo Ronaldo had told reporters on WednesdayRonaldo made his international debut in 2003 and became the first man to score in five World Cups last year before Portugal lost to Morocco in the quarterfinals He currently plays for Saudi club Al Nassr after leaving Manchester United Ronaldorsquos appearance off the bench in the defeat by Morocco equalled the previous mark of 196 caps held by Kuwaitrsquos Bader AlMutawa He left the pitch in tears following Portugalrsquos shock 01 loss to the North AfricansSince leaving Europe Ronaldo has scored nine goals in 10 matches for Al Nassr He was replaced as the starting striker by Goncalo Ramos during the World Cup with the Benfica youngster scoring a hattrick in a last16 win over Switzerland But veteran coach Fernando Santos stepped down following the tournament and new boss Roberto Martinez has immediately put his faith in Ronaldo who also captained the side There were questions over whether his 20year international career had ended in Qatar as Ronaldo will be 39 by the time Euro 2024 kicks off But Martinez who left his role as Belgium coach after the World Cup has strongly defended his decision to keep Ronaldo in the fold ldquoTo be in the national team you have to be committedrdquo the Spaniard said on ThursdayldquoItrsquos a new cycle It is very important that a player shows commitment and that he can use his experience Cristiano has that a lot of experience and a lot of commitmentrdquoAlso readCristiano Ronaldo Irsquom a better man nowAgainst Liechtenstein Cancelo scored the only goal of the first half in the eighth minute but the floodgates opened after the break Bernardo Silva doubled the advantage less than two minutes into the second period before Ronaldo hammered a penalty into the bottom corner A powerful freekick from the edge of the box flew through the hands of goalkeeper Benjamin Buchel to complete the scoring Ronaldo was substituted late on for Ramos with the much expected changing of the guard put on the back burnerRecords galoreRonaldo adds the international appearance landmark to an impressive list of records Hersquos the leading goalscorer in European Championship finals with 14 goals and has netted a record 140 times in the Champions League He has also finished as the topscorer in three of Europersquos top five leaguesmdashEngland Spain and ItalyPortugal visit Luxembourg in their second Group lsquoJrsquo tie on Sunday They also have Bosnia and Herzegovina Iceland and Slovakia for company197Record number of caps for Portugalrsquos Cristiano RonaldoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever