Portugal captain, Cristiano Ronaldo has broken the men’s international appearance record after starting against Liechtenstein in the Euro 2024 qualifier.
The 38-year-old, who was dropped from the Portuguese starting XI during the World Cup in Qatar last year, won a 197th cap for his country on Thursday.
Ronaldo, who is currently playing for Saudi club Al Nassr, made his international debut in 2003. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner adds the international appearance landmark to an impressive list of individual records.
He is the leading goal scorer in European Championship finals with 14 goals and has netted a record 140 times in the Champions League.
Ronaldo has also finished as the top-scorer in three of Europe’s top five leagues — in England, Spain and Italy.
“Records are my motivation,” Ronaldo told reporters on Wednesday.
“I want to become the most capped player in history. That would make me proud, but it doesn’t stop there; I still want to be called up very often.”
Ronaldo is hoping to increase his record tally of 118 international goals as Portugal begins their qualification campaign for next year’s European Championship in Germany.
Portugal will visit Luxembourg in their second Group J qualifier on Sunday.
They have also been drawn alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland and Slovakia.
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