Ali Daei sends message to Ronaldo after record-equalling goal

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By Conor Laird

Published: June 24, 2021 6:16 pm

Last Updated: June 24, 2021 6:18 pm

Iranian legend Ali Daei has sent a personal message of congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo, on the back of the veteran attacker’s latest staggering goalscoring achievement.

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CR7 at the double

Ronaldo was back in action last night, as Portugal made the trip to Budapest, for a crunch Euro 2020 showdown with world champions France.

Fernando Santos’ men were aware ahead of kick-off that avoiding defeat was key, to make sure of their spot in the competition’s Last-16, and keep the nation’s hopes of back-to-back European Championship titles alive.

And, when all was said and done in the Hungarian capital, avoid defeat is precisely what A Selecao managed.

An entertaining affair eventually saw the spoils shared between Portugal and France, in a 2-2 stalemate.

The former took the lead on the half-hour mark, when the aforementioned Ronaldo lashed home from the penalty spot with trademark poise. Karim Benzema, though, soon turned the clash on its head, netting either side of the interval to put Les Bleus in the driver’s seat.

Just when it appeared as though Didier Deschamps’ Euro favourites had things back under control, though, that man Ronaldo stepped up once more, slotting home a 2nd spot-kick of the evening to take his group stage tally to a hefty 5 goals:

109 INTERNATIONAL GOALS FOR RONALDO 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hG53HrED6e

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 23, 2021

‘Honoured’

But, as outlined above, Ronaldo’s latest brace did not only prove significant in ensuring that Portugal’s Euro 2020 hopes remained alive.

They also came as a significant pair from an individual standpoint.

Remarkably, the 2nd of the evening netted by Juventus’ talisman on Wednesday took his international goalscoring tally to an eye-watering 109. This, in turn, guided Ronaldo level with Ali Daei as the top scorer ever on the international stage.

And the man whom CR7 now looks set to imminently surpass as the game’s greatest ever one nation scorer has since responded to the achievement.

Taking to Instagram, Iranian icon Daei sent a personal message to Ronaldo, revealing his ‘honour’ at sharing the benchmark with the 36-year-old, before also lavishing praise on Portugal’s star man for his efforts away from the pitch:

‘Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo, who is now one goal away from breaking the men’s international goal scoring record. I am honoured that this remarkable achievement will belong to Ronaldo – great champion of football and caring humanist who inspires and impacts lives throughout the world.

Vamos!’