Cristiano Ronaldo scored the last-minute winner in his 200th appearance for Portugal, setting a new record
(CNN) — Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo scored a final goal against Iceland the night he became the first male player in history to reach 200 caps.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s strike, his 123rd goal for the national team, confirmed Portugal’s perfect start to Euro 2024 qualification with four wins from four games.
The 38-year-old, who made his debut for Portugal in 2003, received a Guinness World Record certificate for marking the occasion before kick-off.
“I’m very happy,” said Ronaldo UEFA.com after the game. “It’s the kind of moment you don’t expect, to get to 200 games. It’s an incredible achievement for me.”
“To be in the Guinness World Records is amazing and to score the winning goal is even more special. So I have to thank the stadium, Iceland, the people, the fans, the stadium for giving me this party.
“Also to the Portugal team, to the federation. I’m so happy. It’s a special day, I have to thank them all. They made my day. They made my night.”
Icelandic Willum Willumsson was sent off after picking up his second yellow card 10 minutes from time to open the door to victory for Portugal.
Cristiano Ronaldo had to wait to celebrate his goal after teammate Gonçalo Inácio, who provided the assist, was initially ruled offside, only for VAR to overturn the decision.
El capitán de Portugal ya ha marcado cinco goles en la fase de clasificación par la Eurocopa y sigue desempeñando un papel clave par la selección nacional, a pesar de une cepcionante final de la Copa del Mundo en el que Ronaldo quedó en el banquillo en los knock out.
Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr after the World Cup following his troubled departure from Manchester United, missing out on the league title in his first season at the club.
Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Al Nassr after the World Cup. (Credit: Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)
Elsewhere, Germany suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Colombia, while Senegal recorded a resounding 4-2 victory against Brazil.
Luis Diaz’s header and Juan Cuadrado’s penalty gave Colombia their first win against Germany, who continue to struggle to find form ahead of hosting Euro 2024 next summer.
After being knocked out of the World Cup in the group stage, Germany have won just one of their last five games, including a loss to Poland last week.
Germany head coach Hansi Flick has won only half of his 24 games in charge of the national team so far and has been greeted with ‘Flick Out’ banners in the stadium .
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich striker Sadio Mané scored twice in Senegal’s impressive win over Brazil in Lisbon, Portugal.
A goal from Habib Diallo and an own goal from Marquinhos completed the Senegal goal. Lucas Paquetá and Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos, this time in the right net, scored for Brazil.
It was the first time Brazil had conceded four or more goals in a game since that fatal 7-1 defeat to Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals.
