Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to surpass some of football’s greatest players as he embarks on his fifth European Championship campaign in his career, with a host of records set to be smashed by the Portuguese star.
Portugal come up against Hungary this Tuesday in the first game of Group F and Ronaldo is hungrier than ever.
“I come into this European Championship as if it were the first, more motivated than in 2004,” he said.
“We are the champions and holders and we are going to fight to try and lift this trophy again.
“The records I could break aren’t something that obsess me, as the best record would be to lift the trophy twice in a row.”
Ronaldo is currently tied with Michel platini for the most European Championship goals scored, with nine.
He has played in five European Championships and nobody has played in more, with the No.7 playing 21 matches along the way. That’s the same amount as Bastien Schweinsteiger, who he will surpass when he plays against Hungary.
Ronaldo also boasts the record for most minutes played in the European Championships with 1,795 minutes in total. Second place is Gianluigi Buffon with 1,620 minutes and Edwin Van de Sar claims third spot with 1,535 minutes.
Ronaldo is currently in a three-way tie for most victories at a European Championship. The Portuguese man has won 11 games in total and is tied with Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta.
Currently the crown for the most assists made in a European Championship goes to Karel Poborsky who is on six assists. However, Ronaldo is only one away from that number and is tied with a host of great names including Raul, David Beckham, Luis Figo, Arjen Robben and Schweinsteiger.
Ronaldo is also just five goals away from being the top scorer of any national football team. Ali Daei of Iran still boasts that record on 109 goals, but the Portuguese man is breathing down his neck with 104.
In terms of caps, Sergio Ramos is the European player with the most at 180 appearances for his country. Ronaldo is just five appearances away from that figure and will hope his side can make it to the semi-finals in order to take this title away from Ramos.
