Former Iran striker Ali Daei has said he would be honored to see Cristiano Ronaldo break his record for the most goals in international soccer as the Portugal forward moves closer to his tally of 109.
Ronaldo, the only other centurion in the men's international arena, has scored 102 goals in 168 appearances since his debut in 2003.
Lazio substitute Felipe Caicedo scored in stoppage-time for the second week running to earn his side a 1-1 draw at home to Juventus in Serie A on Sunday after Cristiano Ronaldo had given the champions a first-half lead.
The Ecuadorean, who grabbed a 98th-minute winner at Torino last weekend and notched a late equalizer in Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Zenit, leveled in the 94th minute to end Juve's resistance after Lazio had dominated the second half.
Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo scored three minutes into his return following a COVID-19 infection and then added a penalty to help the Serie A champions to get a 4-1 win at Spezia on Sunday.
The 35-year-old, out of action for nearly three weeks after testing positive for the virus, came on in the 56th minute and almost immediately put Juventus 2-1 ahead. Adrien Rabiot added a third before Ronaldo scored with a Panenka-style penalty in the 76th minute to complete their win.
"SIIIIIIIUUUU"
Juventus and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has recovered from a COVID-19 infection, the Serie A club said on Friday.
. @Cristiano recovers from Covid-19https://t.co/4etecyAw0O pic.twitter.com/YPZSm0My8A
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 30, 2020
Lionel Messi has yet to score from open play this season, his only three goals coming from the penalty spot. At times his finishing makes it appear as though he could care less about scoring for the club that strong-armed him into staying in Barcelona colors this year.
But the Argentine can still strike the ball like few who have ever played the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the Juventus squad for the Champions League match at home to Barcelona later on Wednesday, two weeks after first testing positive for COVID-19.
The Portuguese had been hoping to return in time for Wednesday's match and, although there was no official comment on his condition, he was not included in the squad announced by Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo. Reports on Tuesday suggested Ronaldo tested positive for Covid again this week.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a freak of nature whose abs could harness the power of Medusa and turn people to stone. He’s a fitness and fashion icon, debated G.O.A.T of the world’s most popular sport and has a past girlfriends depth chart for the ages. What is Ronaldo bad at? Is there anything us mortals could outperform the Portuguese god in?
MILAN — Cristiano Ronaldo became involved in a public row with Italy's sports minister on Friday as the pair indirectly accused each other of lying over whether the Portugal international had broken health rules after testing positive for COVID-19.
Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thursday the Juventus forward might have infringed the rules by flying back to Italy from national team duty in Portugal after he tested positive for the virus earlier this week.
But in a social media post on Friday, Ronaldo hit back and said he had done everything by the book.
LISBON — Football fans in Lisbon were unsurprised after Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo tested positive COVID-19, saying it simply showed everyone was at risk of getting infected — and famous athletes were no exception.
Portugal's Football Federation said in a statement on Tuesday the 35-year-old Juventus forward was asymptomatic and would miss Wednesday's UEFA Nations League game against Sweden as he self-isolates.
In Portugal's capital Lisbon, not too far from the football facility where Ronaldo is, fans were not shocked by the news.