It wasn’t a remarkable effort by his standards: A corner from Luis Figo came in from the left; Ronaldo met the cross in a crowded box and planted the header beyond Antonios Nikopolidis.
He became the top European men’s scorer in June 2018, with his 85th goal taking him beyond Hungary great Ferenc Puskas.
With 172 Portugal caps, he’s averaged 0.59 goals per game at the international level, but he’ll have to break new ground in these Euros if he’s to equal or better Daei’s mark this summer.
For a start, he’s never scored an international goal against Germany or France, although he does have four against Tuesday’s opponents, Hungary.
Daei’s record was accumulated over a 13-year international career with Iran at a rate of 0.73 goals per game.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players not only of his time, but of all time,” Daei told Tuttomercato in November 2020.
It seems unlikely that some of the other active players — India’s Sunil Chhetri, 11th overall, has 74 goals at age 36, while UAE striker Ali Mabkhout is 12th on 73 goals — can catch him.
How about Ronaldo’s European peers? Other favourites for the Golden Boot at this summer’s Euros include Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku, who’s in the form of his life.
The wondrous 22-year-old is a favourite to be named best player at this summer’s Euros and has plenty of time to overtake the Portugal icon — if he improves his goal-scoring record of 0.41 per game at the international level.
The man, dubbed the “Iranian Zlatan,” is just 26 years old and already has 34 in 54 for Iran.
I am not obsessed because I believe the records come in a natural way.” But judging by his reaction against Serbia back in March when he was denied a last-minute goal, the record means a lot to him.
Daei, speaking back in November, predicted Ronaldo would break his record, and he looked forward to congratulating him.