In the end, it wasn’t entirely without drama. On the contrary: Cristiano Ronaldo, 38, was still in agony, because much would not have been missing, and the referee team led by Berlin-based Daniel Siebert would have refused him the cherry on the cake in Reykjavik, Iceland. The seconds Ronaldo had to wait must have seemed like hours, but then video referee Bastian Dankert gave the go-ahead: No offside, the goal to Portugal’s 1-0 win, scored in the 90th minute, was legal. Ronaldo’s facial features not only relaxed, they were suddenly as smooth as after a botox treatment. He spread his arms, ran to the corner flag, did his signature figure skating jump and shouted “Siiiiuuuuu!!!!” as he has always done for years when he scores a goal. Even if it’s such a despicable dust collector as on Tuesday evening in Iceland.
Portugal’s fourth win in the fourth game of the European Championship qualifier was secondary that evening, at least for Ronaldo, who recently ended his career with FC Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia with a high salary. With this goal, Ronaldo crowned “a cake with 200 candles” that “didn’t want to thaw for a long time”, as the newspaper Record wrote, an allusion to the truly tough match. The 200 candles stood for the 200 caps that Ronaldo has played for his home country since 2003 – and which represent a lone record. Because Ronaldo is the first man in the football world who has now broken this sound barrier – among women there are more than 40 players with more than 200 games, including former Germany striker Birgit Prinz (212 games, 128 goals). “I can’t ask for more, it was spectacular,” said Ronaldo, who has now scored 123 goals for Portugal, another record of course.
Even before the game started, homage had been paid to him. The Icelanders offered flowers and lavish applause, while Portugal’s FA presented the former Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus player with two framed jerseys: a replica of the number 17 jersey Ronaldo defeated in his debut on August 20, 2003 Kazakhstan (1-0) and a shirt from the current collection with the number 200. There was also a certificate presented by the Guinness company, which brews powerful beer and certifies bizarre records. Although Ronaldo had emphasized on the eve of the anniversary game that top scores were not his motivation: “I’m not chasing records, the records are chasing me,” he said (again).
This is less true for titles at national team level. In Lisbon in 2004, Ronaldo mourned the defeat of the European Championship final against the Greeks coached by Otto Rehhagel, against whom Ronaldo had scored his first international goal in the opening game. In 2016 he was allowed to lift the European Championship trophy in France, and three years later the Nations League trophy. A world champion title, however, was denied to him in five World Cup participations between 2006 and 2022. Worse still, in December, Ronaldo had to endure how his eternal rival for the world footballer’s crown, Argentinian Lionel Messi, beat France in the Qatar final. Portugal had previously been eliminated after a 1-0 loss to Morocco in the quarter-finals.
However, that does not change the fact that Ronaldo can already look back on an impressive career. “Reinaldo” called him Récord, a neologism of Rei (king) and his name. The number 200 is “exemplary for effort, dedication and talent”, praised Portugal’s new coach Roberto Martínez, whose team in qualifying group J is well on the way to qualifying for the EM 2024 in Germany. Still with Ronaldo then? That has to be assumed: “I want to grow my brand,” he said, “and continue to make all Portuguese people happy.”
