Tag: Cristiano Ronaldo

LISBON: Cristiano Ronaldo broke the men’s international appearance record on Thursday and marked the occasion by scoring twice in Portugal’s 4-0 thrashing of Liechtenstein in Euro 2024 qualifying.

The 38-year-old, who was dropped from the Portuguese first-choice XI during the World Cup in Qatar last year, won a 197th cap for his country in Lisbon as a starter.

He netted a 51st-minute penalty after earlier goals from Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva, before drilling home a free-kick 12 minutes later.

It was Ronaldo’s record-extending 120th goal for his country and made him the first man to score 100 times in competitive internationals.

“Records are my motivation,” Ronaldo had told reporters on Wednesday.

“I want to become the most capped player in history. That would make me proud.

“But it doesn’t stop there, I still want to be called up very often.”

Ronaldo 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 quarter-finals.

He is currently playing for Saudi club Al Nassr after an acrimonious end to his second spell at Manchester United.

Ronaldo’s appearance off the bench in the defeat by Morocco equalled the previous mark of 196 caps held by Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa.

He left the pitch in tears following Portugal’s shock 1-0 loss against the North Africans.

Since 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 hat-trick in a last-16 win over Switzerland.

Ronaldo captains team 

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 20-year 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.

“To be in the national team, you have to be committed,” the Spaniard said on Thursday.

“It’s 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 commitment to the national team.”

Portugal made the perfect start to their qualification campaign with a straightforward win against 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 free-kick 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 burner.

Ronaldo adds the international appearance landmark to an impressive list of individual records.

He is the leading goalscorer in European Championship finals with 14 goals and has netted a record 140 times in the Champions League.

Ronaldo has also finished as the top-scorer in three of Europe’s top five leagues — in England, Spain and Italy.

Portugal will visit Luxembourg in their second Group J qualifier on Sunday.

They have also been drawn alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Slovakia.

LISBON: Cristiano Ronaldo made no secret Wednesday of his ambition to notch up another world record — for the number of international caps — a day before Portugal face Liechtenstein in Euro 2024 qualifiers.

The 38-year-old was named in new Portugal coach Roberto Martinez’s first squad despite being dropped from the starting lineup for Portugal’s final matches of the World Cup in Qatar.

Ronaldo already holds the world record for men’s international goals, with 118, and the European men’s record of 196 caps, a tally that also equals the world landmark with Kuwait’s Bader Al-Mutawa.

“Records are my motivation,” Ronaldo told reporters.

“I want to become the most capped player in history. That would make me proud.

“But it doesn’t stop there, I still want to be called up very often.”

Ronaldo’s international career began in August 2003 in a friendly against Kazakhstan and he has represented Portugal in every international competition since Euro 2004.

After the Liechtenstein match, Portugal face Luxemburg on Sunday.

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RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo scored all of Al Nassr’s goals in a 4-0 rout of Al Wehda in the Saudi league on Thursday as he passed the 500 league goal mark in his club career.

The 38-year-old Portuguese star now has 503 goals scored for five different teams stretched across five leagues.

He hit three for Sporting Lisbon in his fledgling career, 103 for Manchester United over two spells, 311 for Real Madrid and 81 at Juventus.

Ronaldo now has five for Al Nassr who he joined after the World Cup following his bitter divorce from United.

On Thursday, he hit the 500 mark in the 21st minute with a left-footed strike.

He made it 2-0 with his right foot just before the interval before his hat-trick arrived from the penalty spot eight minutes into the second half.

It was his 61st career hat-trick.

He added a fourth just after the hour mark when he was first to a rebound.

Ronaldo had opened his account for his new employers last Friday with a stoppage-time penalty in a 2-2 away draw against Al Fateh.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who holds the all-time records for Champions League and international goals, is banking more than 400 million euros for his surprise move to Saudi, according to sources close to Al Nassr.

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AL-HASA: Cristiano Ronaldo got off the mark for his new Saudi paymasters Al Nassr on Friday with a stoppage-time penalty that rescued a 2-2 away draw against Al Fateh.

The Portuguese, who turns 38 on Sunday, buried the spot-kick in the 93rd minute for a point that left the Riyadh club joint top of the Saudi Pro League with a game in hand over Al Shabab.

Ronaldo broke his duck in his third appearance, after he fired blanks in the January 22 league win over Ettifaq and in this week’s Super Cup loss to Al Ittihad.

Days before his Al Nassr debut, he scored twice for a Saudi composite team in an entertaining 5-4 loss to a Paris Saint-Germain side featuring his great rival Lionel Messi.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who holds the all-time records for Champions League and international goals, will bank more than 400 million euros for his surprise move to Saudi, according to sources close to Al Nassr.

The giant sum includes 200 million euros for promoting Saudi Arabia’s expected joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, the sources told AFP.

Ronaldo has become a figurehead for the conservative kingdom’s push to improve its reputation through sports — a process that has drawn accusations of “sportswashing”, or trying to sanitise its human rights record.

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RIYADH: Star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo met his new Saudi club Al Nassr’s women’s side on Thursday to boost the players’ confidence before their next games.

Ronaldo, who signed a lucrative deal with the club worth around 200 million Euros in December last year following his bitter exit from Manchester United, has been in Riyadh since January and has so far played two games for the side.

He also faced off long-standing competitor Lionel Messi on January 17 when Qatar-owned PSG toured Saudi Arabia and played a friendly match against a select side made up of players from Al Nassr and their Saudi rivals Al Hilal.

In a video posted by Al Nassr on Thursday on their official Twitter account, Ronaldo was seen motivating the club women’s team and wishing them luck for their remaining two matches of the Saudi Women’s Premier League.

‘Keep going’ he said while giving a thumbs up to the team.

Our women stars have their support from the greatest 🤩

Ronaldo meets #AlNassr’s women football team ⚽️
And gives a message for the two remaining matches 💪🔝 pic.twitter.com/6KT4YMY4D2

— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) February 2, 2023

It is worth mentioning here that at his opening press conference in Riyadh last month, Ronaldo expressed his desire to be an inspiration, not just for young boys but also for female footballers in the country.

“I’m grateful that Al-Nassr gave me this opportunity to show and develop not only the football, but also for the generation, the young generation, the woman’s generation as well,” he had said.

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KARACHI: Star Indian batter Virat Kohli has come out in support of football great Cristiano Ronaldo following his magnificent performance against Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in an exhibition match in Riyadh.

Ronaldo, who was fouled by PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas’s flailing fist, recovered soon and struck twice in a 4-5 exhibition defeat to the Qatar-owned side, his first appearance since moving to Saudi Arabia’s club Al-Nassr.

His twin strikes, however, went in vain as Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos and Hugo Ekitike all struck to seal the deal for PSG.

Notably, Ronaldo was under a lot of criticism following his controversial interview with a British TV channel which led to his former club Manchester United terminating his contract.

The Portuguese forward was then moved to Saudi Arabia’s club Al-Nassr after a whopping amount of more than 400 million dollars.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s brilliance in the Friendly inspired India’s star batter Kohli, who shared a picture of the footballer on his Instagram story.

“Still doing it at the highest level at 38. The football experts sitting and criticising him every week for attention are conveniently quiet now that he’s put in this kind of performance against one of the top clubs in the world. And he was apparently finished,” wrote Kohli as he shared Ronaldo’s picture holding the player of the match title.

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MANCHESTER: Manchester United completed the loan signing of Dutch international Wout Weghorst for the rest of the season on Friday to bolster Erik ten Hag’s forward options.

The 30-year-old had been on loan at Besiktas from Burnley, but the Turkish giants announced they had received 2.8 million euros ($3 million, £2.5 million) to cut that deal short.

United have been short of strikers since Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract at Old Trafford was terminated in November.

Weghorst joined Burnley from Wolfsburg for £12 million in January 2022 but scored just two Premier League goals as the Clarets were relegated last season.

However, he struck nine times in 18 games for Besiktas and scored twice for the Netherlands in a thrilling World Cup quarter-final against eventual champions Argentina last month.

“I feel privileged to be joining Manchester United,” Weghorst said in a club statement.

“I’ve seen United’s progress under Erik ten Hag this season and can’t wait to start playing my part in pushing the team towards its aims.”

Weghorst was not registered in time to be able to feature against Manchester City on Saturday.

But he will add extra depth with the Red Devils still involved in four competitions.

“Wout has a consistent goalscoring record across several European leagues, and his attributes will add a further dimension to our squad for the remainder of the season,” said United’s football director, John Murtough.

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PARIS: Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain will play a friendly against a select side made up of players from Cristiano Ronaldo’s new club Al Nassr and their Saudi rivals Al Hilal in Riyadh on January 19, the French champions announced on Monday.

Qatar-owned PSG will travel to Doha on January 17 before moving on to the Saudi capital for the match at the King Fahd Stadium which will see Messi and Ronaldo renew their rivalry.

Messi returned to training with PSG last week after being given a fortnight off following Argentina’s World Cup triumph in Qatar in December.

Meanwhile Ronaldo, who will turn 38 in February, recently joined Al Nassr after agreeing a contract that runs until 2025 and is reportedly worth more than 200 million euros ($214m).

His arrival at Al Nassr, who are coached by Frenchman Rudi Garcia, comes as Saudi Arabia seeks to improve the profile of football in the country ahead of a possible joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup along with Greece and Egypt.

Ronaldo and Messi have dominated the sport over the last 15 years, winning the Ballon d’Or 12 times between them.

Their rivalry grew during nine years in which they came up against each other in Spain, when Messi was starring for Barcelona and Ronaldo for Real Madrid.

Riyadh clubs Al Hilal and Al Nassr are Saudi Arabia’s two most successful sides.

PSG have made a habit of travelling to Qatar in winter since the Gulf state bought the club in 2011.

However, this trip comes despite the Ligue 1 leaders having a French Cup tie scheduled for the weekend of January 21 and 22 against lower-league opponents yet to be determined.

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RIYADH: Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo still needs to serve a two-match English Football Association ban before making his Al Nassr debut, an official at the Saudi club told AFP on Friday.

Ronaldo was slapped with the ban in November for hitting a mobile phone out of a teenage fan’s hand after Manchester United, his club at the time, lost to Everton.

“The ban is applicable after he is officially registered,” one Al Nassr official, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to media, told AFP.

Al Nassr has not yet registered Ronaldo because the Saudi club have exceeded their quota for foreign players.

Ronaldo, whose deal is worth an estimated 200 million euros to June 2025, is Al Nassr’s ninth foreign player — one more than the eight allowed by Saudi football authorities.

His registration is set to be completed on Friday, sources close to the club said, without disclosing who would be removed.

Saudi reports said Uzbek midfielder Jaloliddin Masharipov was most likely to make way for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and Champions League record scorer.

Al Nassr’s first game since Ronaldo’s arrival was scheduled to be held on Friday at Mrsool Park, where he was unveiled to fireworks and deafening cheers from a capacity crowd on Tuesday.

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RIYADH: Star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo who shocked the world with his huge deal with Al Nassr estimated at 200 million euros ($211m), claimed that he had many offers from all over the world including Europe.

Ronaldo arrived here ahead of his stint with Saudi Arabia’s club Al Nassr and came up with a major revelation by sharing that he turned down a swathe of offers from Europe and elsewhere, in a bid to be part of success of the country and culture.

“In Europe, my work is done,” he said, adding: “I had many offers in Europe, many in Brazil, Australia, the US, even in Portugal.

“Many clubs tried to sign me but I gave my word to this club, for the opportunity to have not only football but (to be) part of this amazing country. And for me it was a challenge,” he added.

The Portuguese forward then described himself as a “unique” player and insisted his career is not over yet and is optimistic to break a few records here as he did in Europe.

“I’m a unique player. It’s good to come here, I broke all the records there (in Europe) and I want to break a few records here,” Ronaldo concluded.

It is apropos to mention that Ronaldo’s signing with Al Nassr until June 2025 is just the latest foray into top-level sports by oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which has moved into Formula One, boxing and golf, and snapped up English club Newcastle United.

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