Another record went tumbling on Wednesday as Cristiano Ronaldo became the leading goalscorer in the history of international men's football.
Ronaldo, who completed a remarkable move to Manchester United this week, surpassed the tally of 109 set by Iran great Ali Daei.
The 36-year-old pulled level with Daei during the recent Euro 2020 tournament, but he reached 111 with a dramatic late double during the World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland at Estadio Algarve.
To mark the Portuguese superstar’s latest record, Stats Perform looked back at some of the milestone goals of his incredible career...
GOAL 100 – MANCHESTER UNITED 3-1 Tottenham (FA Cup, January 2008)
The first century of goals was completed in somewhat fortuitous circumstances, with a 22-year-old Ronaldo doubling his tally for the match with a deflected effort that squirmed under the body of goalkeeper Radek Cerny.
GOAL 200 – REAL MADRID 2-0 Valencia (LaLiga, December 2010)
Again, Ronaldo was on target twice in this match but it was his first strike – a measured left-footed finish from Mesut Ozil's assist – that took him onto 200 career goals.
GOAL 300 – Granada 1-2 REAL MADRID (LaLiga, May 2012)
Madrid were behind in this game with only five minutes gone but levelled late on when Ronaldo converted a penalty that he had won. There was still time for title-winning Madrid to seal all three points courtesy of an own goal.
GOAL 400 – REAL MADRID 3-0 Celta Vigo (LaLiga, January 2014)
At the double once more, it was his second goal in injury time that brought up a quadruple century for the irrepressible Ronaldo, who turned home a fine cross from Gareth Bale.
GOAL 500 – Malmo 0-2 REAL MADRID (Champions League, September 2015)
The first of two goals on an otherwise uneventful night in Sweden was the one that took Ronaldo to a tally of 500. Through one-on-one, the outcome was never in doubt as he confidently chipped the ball over Johan Wiland.
GOAL 600 – REAL MADRID 4-1 Juventus (Champions League, June 2017)
What a stage on which to make history, the Champions League final. Having already opened the scoring, Ronaldo struck again when he turned in Luka Modric's near-post delivery on a glorious night in Wales for Madrid.
GOAL 700 – Ukraine 2-1 PORTUGAL (Euro 2020 Qualifying, October 2019)
The first of his landmark goals that has failed to help his side to victory, but an astonishing personal achievement nonetheless, Ronaldo slotted home his penalty and probably started thinking about reaching 800 soon after.
Liverpool receive VAR audio of controversial disallowed Luis Diaz goal at Spurs
Liverpool have received the audio of the VAR review which led to a Luis Diaz goal wrongly being disallowed at Tottenham.
Miscommunication between VAR Darren England and on-field referee Simon Hooper led to the goal being ruled out in Saturday’s Premier League fixture.
Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) acknowledged later that evening that a “significant human error” had occurred, and PA understands the audio linked to the incident has now been sent to Liverpool by PGMOL ahead of it being released publicly.
PA understands the audio could feature in the next ‘Match Officials: Mic’d Up’ programme due to air on Monday night, if not sooner. But it is now understood the audio will definitely be released, it is just a question of when.
Liverpool are also understood to be appealing against a straight red card shown to Curtis Jones earlier in the match.
Diogo Jota was also sent off in the second half for a second bookable offence.
England and his assistant VAR, Daniel Cook, have not been selected for Premier League matches this weekend following the Diaz incident.
Officials involved in Spurs-Liverpool VAR ‘error’ not selected for this weekend
The two match officials stood down from duty following Saturday’s incident that saw Liverpool wrongly denied a goal will not be involved in this weekend’s Premier League fixtures.
Darren England and Dan Cook were VAR and assistant VAR respectively when a “significant human error” resulted in Luis Diaz’s effort incorrectly being disallowed for offside in the Reds’ 2-1 loss at Tottenham.
Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) on Sunday announced the pair had been replaced for their next matches – England was due to be fourth official that day at Nottingham Forest v Brentford, with Cook to be assistant referee for Monday’s Fulham-Chelsea clash, but Craig Pawson and Eddie Smart stepped in.
And on Tuesday, England and Cook did not feature as the Premier League released its list of officials for matchweek eight this Saturday and Sunday.
Simon Hooper, the on-field referee for the Tottenham-Liverpool contest and fourth official for the subsequent Fulham game, is to be VAR when Everton host Bournemouth on Saturday.
After Diaz’s 34th-minute effort at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, when the score was 0-0, was disallowed PGMOL put out a statement saying “a significant human error occurred” and that a goal should have been given but “the VAR failed to intervene”.
The PA news agency understands Liverpool have formally requested the audio from PGMOL of the conversation between Hooper and England related to the incident.
Liverpool issued a statement on Sunday night saying they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe considering minority stake bid for Manchester United – reports
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is considering changing his bid and buying a minority stake in Manchester United, according to reports.
Ineos founder Ratcliffe, who had attempted to buy Chelsea last year, joined the race to purchase United in January and had been the sole bidder before Sheikh Jassim entered the running a month later.
A lengthy takeover saga has followed with numerous bids entered by both boyhood fan Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim, but no progress has been made over any potential change of ownership from the Glazer family, who announced in November they were open to selling the club.
Manchester United’s valuation on the New York Stock Exchange plummeted by more than £500million last month in the wake of reports the Glazers may not sell.
It is now being reported that Ratcliffe, the second-richest person in the UK according to the Sunday Times Rich List, could decide to buy a minority stake in the Premier League giants.
Sky News report Ratcliffe may seek a stake in the region of 25 per cent as part of a proposal to try to bring the drawn-out sale process to an end, having initially wanted to complete a majority takeover.
If the Glazers accepted this new reported offer, it would see the American family still retain majority control of the club they first bought in 2005.
United fans have protested against the Glazers for years and thousands took part in an hour-long sit-in at Old Trafford after a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest in August.
It has been 18 years since the Americans’ controversial leveraged takeover and over 10 months since they announced a strategic review.
Ratcliffe’s team declined to comment when contacted by the PA news agency.
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