When he walks off the pitch on Tuesday evening, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo will have a new record under his belt by becoming the first player to take part in five Euro tournaments.
The Portuguese forward could very well break two new records before the end of the competition.
The defending champions will kick off their Euro 2020 campaign against Hungary at 18:00 CET from Budapest.
Ronaldo, 36, needs just one goal to break his tie with France’s Michel Platini for the title of Euro top scorer. Both have scored nine goals with Ronaldo spreading them over the past four competitions while the Frenchmen scored them all in the 1984 tournament Les Bleus went on to claim.
“It’s a good record, but more important than this would be to win back-to-back Euros,” Ronaldo told reporters on Monday.
Six more goals would see Ronaldo become the all-time leading scorer for a men’s national team. The title is currently held by Iran striker Ali Daei who scored 109 during his international career while the Juventus striker has a tally of 104 goals in 175 international matches.
The Hungarians can expect a partisan crowd at the Puskas Arena, but it’s hard to see how they can upset Portugal.
This team is not as enterprising as it was at Euro 2016, where it took the lead three times in an exciting 3-3 draw with Portugal. Ronaldo, unsurprisingly, scored the last two goals for the Portuguese.
Portugal will then face Germany on Saturday in Munich and then world champions France on 23 June in Budapest, in a rematch of the Euro 2016 final that saw Ronaldo weep with sadness when he went off injured and then with joy thanks to Eder’s goal in extra time.
