Cristiano Ronaldo is more of a legend from this Thursday. The Portuguese striker has become the player with the most caps in history, beating Kuwaiti Bader Al-Mutawa, with whom he was tied. At the moment, he has 197 caps for Portugal, although he aspires to continue increasing his record.
The Al Nasr attacker started the qualifying match for Euro 2024 against Liechtenstein, before which he scored his third from the penalty spot and the fourth, from a free kick. After the World Cup, in which Cristiano was a substitute in the decisive matches and was the focus of conflict for allegedly being angry at his loss of protagonist, the possibility of him not continuing to wear the national shirt was put on the table.
The arrival of Roberto Martínez on the bench revived the debate once again. The Spanish coach, without any kind of link with the squad or the country, had the ability to put an end to the international career of Cristiano Ronaldoalso coinciding with his departure to the Saudi Arabia league.
Cristiano’s loss of competitive level due to his new championship jeopardized his presence in a top-level European team like Portugal. In addition, youth comes stomping with Gonçalo Ramos or Joao Félix as leaders of the new era. In fact, the first was the one that took the title from him in the World Cup in Qatar once the qualifying rounds arrived.
However, Roberto Martínez has shown his total confidence in a player of the ex-madridista’s experience. Under his tenure, he has become the footballer with the most caps in the history of national team football and will probably reach 200 in the near future.
An unattainable legacy?
Cristiano Ronaldo He has participated in five World Cups and five Euro Cups. He is the player with the most World Cups played in history, tied with other footballers like Leo Messi. It premiered precisely in the Euro in which Portugal was the host, although with a cruel fate. His great Argentine rival accumulates 172 games with the Albiceleste and puts his match record in check.
He later made amends with the Euro 2016 title, Portugal’s biggest recent success. He also lifted the 2019 Nations League. Everything, of course, accompanied by his goals. He has celebrated a total of 120 goals for his country, pulverizing the record of Ali Daei, who scored 108 for Iran.
