Thursday June 24th 2021
“Ronaldo is God”
No world record is safe from this man
Cristiano Ronaldo is simply unstoppable and this time even overshadows Karim Benzema and his goal comeback. Portugal’s superstar Ali Daei’s goal world record equalized against France – the Iranian then praised the 36-year-old in the highest tones, because CR7 breaks boundaries.
Cristiano Ronaldo smiled and gave Karim Benzema a friendly hug before the goal world record holder raised Kylian Mbappé like a little brother in the belly of the Puskas Arena. Portugal’s superstar gave both of them, his old companion Benzema, his legendary jersey with the number 7 at halftime. Even the biggest names in football mutated into Ronaldo fans on this historic day, because the 36-year-old had once again broken boundaries.
“Ronaldo is God” was the headline of the Portuguese tabloid “Correio da Manha” after he won the last sixteen ticket in the 2-2 (1: 1) against world champions France in the decisive EM group match, not just with a double. “CR7 consolidates the legend and sets the world record,” wrote the “Correio” on.
With his international goals 108 and 109 (31./60.), Which he scored with penalties, Ronaldo equalized the record of the Iranian Ali Daei, formerly Bayern Munich, Hertha BSC and Arminia Bielefeld. No man has scored more often for his country. Daei promptly congratulated. “I am honored that this remarkable achievement belongs to Ronaldo,” the 52-year-old wrote on Instagram, recognizing Ronaldo as a “great champion of football” and a “caring humanist who inspires and influences lives around the world”. Only Canada’s football icon Christine Sinclair (186 goals so far) is probably forever out of reach even for Ronaldo, but he will be able to get over that.
“Everyone has been waiting for this goal”
Ronaldo, thanks to whose goals the defending champion meets Belgium in the first knockout round on Sunday (9 p.m. / ARD and MagentaTV) in Seville, was publicly humble. “Congratulations to the team! Thanks to everyone for their unconditional support,” the Juventus striker posted on Instagram. After all, he knows that without the team he would not have scored five tournament goals. And he would hardly have climbed to the top of the all-time European Championship goalscorer list on his own, which he now leads with 14 goals in five appearances.
In the end, Ronaldo was still in the spotlight. He even overshadowed Mbappé and Benzema, although they also played first-class on Wednesday in Budapest. Benzema, Ronaldo’s teammate at Real Madrid from 2009 to 2018 and four-time Champions League winner with him, even scored twice (45th + 2, foul penalty / 47th, after video evidence) and silenced the critics who had finally demanded goals after his comeback in the Equipe Tricolore.
“Everyone has been waiting for this goal after six years,” said Benzema, “but I’m a player who’s used to the pressure.” Benzema only returned shortly before the European Championship tournament after being banned in 2015 for allegedly being involved in a blackmail scandal. After two test and two European Championship games without a hit, the local press praised him on Thursday: “France is supported by Benzema,” wrote Liberation.
Benzema and the French will face Switzerland on Monday (9 p.m.) in Bucharest, but Benzema has not yet talked about that during his chat with Ronaldo. “It’s always nice to see him because we’ve come a long way,” said Benzema: “We talked about normal things. Everything is good and we wish us good luck in the club and with the national team.” And maybe they will even see each other again during the tournament.
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