Cristiano Ronaldo stepped on the pitch for the first time in a month on Tuesday during Portugal’s Nation League clash against Sweden, but the prolonged lack of action had no effect on his form.
Portugal cruised to a 2-0 victory to strengthen their hold atop the Group A3, courtesy of two sensational long-range strikes from their talisman.
His brace saw him become the best goalscorer as well as the only player to reach the 100-goal mark in all of Europe at the international stage.
Ronaldo is now just nine goals shy of taking a step further and leading the international goalscoring charts not just in Europe but across the globe. He has 101 strikes from 165 games and the one he is planning to overtake, Iran’s Ali Daei, found the back of the net 109 times in 149 matches.
It is expected that the 35-year old will reach that milestone sooner rather than later, and Ryan Giggs, who spent six years with him during their time at Manchester United, has backed his former teammate to further enhance his legacy.
Giggs told the PA news agency: “I think Cristiano will break that record.
“I saw him at the start of his career and you could never foresee him going on to score this amount of goals. He was a talent and a brilliant player who excited you. Cristiano was always a student of the game, and just like me he always looking for that extra edge.
“The numbers he’s banging out is incredible, it’s every type of goal.”
