Cristiano Ronaldo is officially the most experienced men’s football player of all time after starting on his 197th appearance for Portugal
Two goals in a 4-0 win over Liechtenstein sees Cristiano Ronaldo score after making history by being named in Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez’s starting lineup. Despite being in the Saudi Pro League, Ronaldo has scored nine goals in 10 appearances for Al Nassr and the new head coach included him in the first fixture for the 2024 European Championship qualification.
Joao Cancelo gave a sensational performance on Thursday night, opening the scoring from a volley after the ball was punched out from a corner in just 8 minutes. After the goal, the game slowed down with the most chances and possession with Portugal. However, immediately after half-time, Bernardo Silva scored from a deflected Joao Cancelo cutback to give the home team an added advantage at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
In a few minutes, Liechtenstein shot themselves in the foot, conceding a penalty, which Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and clinically drilled into the far corner. Six minutes later, he could have had another goal had it not been chopped for offside.
Eventually, Ronaldo found a second with a powerful free kick from the edge of the box. He was later subbed off with 12 minutes to go; 120 goals for Portugal.
Portugal leads Group J on goal difference following Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 3-0 victory over Iceland. In the other match, Luxembourg and Slovakia drew 0-0.
Luxembourg will host Portugal next Sunday for their next Euro 2024 Qualifiers.
Harry Kane Surpasses Rooney To Become England’s All-Time Top Scorer
England beat Italy 2-1 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in their first Euro 2024 Qualifiers fixture. Bobby Charlton previously held the record with 49 goals, and it stood for 45 years from 1970 until Rooney scored his 50th goal against Switzerland in 2015. Kane scoring his 54th goal sees him pass Wayne Rooney, eight years after the Tottenham Hotspurs striker scored his first for England.
Kane was playing for his country for the first time since missing a penalty during England’s 2022 World Cup quarterfinal elimination in Qatar. England were in control at halftime, with Declan Rice opening the scoring in the 13th minute. Kane scored a penalty after Di Lorenzo handled the ball in the penalty area, right before halftime.
On his debut, Mateo Retegui scored for Italy less than 10 minutes from the break to give a lifeline to the Azzurri. Pelegrini slips him in with a no-look pass before he smashes the ball past Pickford. Mateo Retegui, who represents Tigre in Argentina, is the only player in the history of Italy’s men’s team to score his first international goal while playing club football outside of Europe.
In the 80th minute, Luke Shaw got sent off for a second bookable offense as England held on for the win.
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