Cristiano Ronaldo became the first men’s player in history
Football star Cristiano Ronaldo became the first men’s player in history to reach the record number of 200 international appearances on the night of winning a match for his home team, Portugal, by scoring the winning goal.
He received his Guinness World Record certificate for his achievement right before the match, and the victory sweetened the pot. But he had to wait before celebrating because his teammate Gonçalo Inácio was ruled to be offside, but VAR overturned the decision soon after.
This, to his fans, feels like a sort of redemption after his disappointing performance in the World Cup, where his team was knocked out relatively earlier than expected and Ronaldo himself, serving as Portugal captain, was dropped to the bench during the knockout stages. It was made worse by the fact that Argentina, the national team of his long time rival, Lionel Messi, went on to win the World Cup.
Ronaldo has since switched clubs, moving to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr where he says he is happy. After making this historic achievement, the 38 year old told uefa after the match ended:
“So happy. It’s the kind of moment you never expect, to reach 200 caps. For me it’s an unbelievable achievement.”
“To be in the Guinness World Records is amazing and to score the winning goal is even more special. So I have to say thank you to the stadium, to Iceland, the people, the fans, the stadium for having this kind of party for me.”
“Also to the Portugal National Team, the federation. I’m so happy. It’s a special day, I have to say thank you to all of them. They made my day. They made my night.”
