New Delhi: Cristiano Ronaldo added another record to his name as he became the highest assist provider in the history of the European Championships (since 1968) when he made a selfless pass for Bruno Fernandes in Portugal’s 3-0 win over Turkey on Sunday. Ronaldo now has seven assists to his name in the history of the tournament. With this win, Portugal qualified for the round of 16 in Euro 2024.
Leading 2-0 at halftime, thanks to a Bernardo Silva strike and a Samet Akaydin own goal, Ronaldo, with the goalkeeper at his mercy, selflessly passed to his former Manchester United teammate for the third goal in the 56th minute. On Tuesday, Ronaldo became the first and only player to feature at straight six European Championships when he captained Portugal to a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in their opening game in the Euro 2024.
The 39 year old forward, who made his tournament debut at Euro 2004 where his side ended up reaching the final, already holds the record for scoring the most goals (14) at the tournament while he extended his appearance record to 26 games. He helped his side to win the title at Euro 2016.
Ronaldo prepared himself for this edition with two goals as Portugal crushed Ireland 3-0 in their final preparation games. Ronaldo, who was the joint-top scorer at Euro 2020 with five goals alongside Czech forward Patrik Schick, has a history of netting against the Czech Republic, having scored against them in both the 2008 and 2012 editions of the tournament.
Altogether, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has 130 goals in 208 games for Portugal since making his debut as an 18-year-old under Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari in August 2003. Ronaldo ended his club season with a record shattering 35 goals in the Saudi Pro League for runner-up Al-Nassr. He had an amazing season, scoring four hat-tricks and one red card and was also suspended for an obscene gesture in February at Al-Shabab fans who were chanting longstanding rival Lionel Messi’s name.
