Ronaldo achieved the herculean 100-goal landmark in Portugal's 2-0 win over Sweden in the UEFA Nations Cup match on Tuesday. 'CR7' found the back of the net twice to help him bring up a century of goals for his nation at the international stage.
The modern-era footballing great became the first European footballer and only the second soccer player after Iranian legendary player Ali Daie to score 100 international goals with the first of his two goals in the UEFA Nations League. Ronaldo scored his first international goal for Portugal at the age of 19 in the 2-1 defeat against Greece at the 2004 UEFA Euro.
The reigning UEFA Nations Cup champions on Tuesday locked horns with Sweden in the Scandinavian nation with their skipper and star player Ronaldo back in the squad after he had to miss Portugal's opening Nations League match due to a toe problem three days earlier, reports Xinhua news agency.
Ronaldo opened the scoring for the Portuguese by firing a freekick before the half time interval and then added a second goal by curling home from the edge of the penalty area in the 73rd minute.
"I managed to beat this milestone of 100 goals and now for the record (109)," said Ronaldo, who is only outscored by Iran's Ali Daei with 109 international goals. "It's step-by-step. I am not obsessed because I believe the records come in a natural way."
It's the second straight victory for defending UEFA Nations League champs Portugal as they had defeated Croatia 4-1 at home last Saturday. They will visit France in October for their third match in Group 3.