Ali Daei has congratulated Cristiano Ronaldo on equaling his all-time international record.
Gatekeepers News reports that Cristiano Ronaldo has equalled Iran striker Ali Daei’s all-time international goal record by scoring his 109th goal for Portugal in Wednesday’s Euro 2020 game against France.
36-year-old Ronaldo from the penalty spot scored his 108th and converted his second penalty of the game to see Portugal to the round of 16 and also matched Ali Daei’s record set with Iran between 1993 and 2006.
The Juventus forward who is the leading scorer in European Championship history set the record in his 178th international appearance.
Ronaldo with his 14 Euro scores is now five more goals away from French great Michel Platini, who netted nine times when he led France to glory in 1984.
Daei, nicknamed the ‘Shariar’ (King in Persian), who made his remarkable 109 goals in 149 appearances for Iran, has said on several occasions that he would be “delighted” if Ronaldo broke his record.
Shariar said he believes he ranks among the best three players in history, alongside Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona.
Daei before Ronaldo scored his 109th goal, posted on Instagram,
“Congratulations to @cristiano who is now one goal away from breaking the men’s international goal scoring record.”
“I am honoured that this remarkable achievement will belong to Ronaldo – great champion of football and caring humanist who inspires and impacts lives throughout the world.”
In other news, for the round of 16, Wales face Denmark and Italy – Austria on Saturday.
On Sunday, Netherlands meet Czech, while Belgium face Portugal.
Croatia go against Spain, and France against Switzerland on Monday.
And finally, on Tuesday, England face Germany, while Sweden meet Ukraine
