Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored more goals than Erling Haaland, Kylian Mabppe and Harry Kane in 2023
You can certainly question the competition, but you can’t question Cristiano Ronaldo’s ability to put the ball in the back of the net.
Even at the age of 38, football’s all-time top scorer still has his finishing touch, bagging his 40th goal of 2023.
Scoring twice in a 5-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Portugal captain made sure his already-qualified country continued their perfect Euro 2024 preliminary record.
Roberto Martinez’s side now have eight wins from eight in Group J, scoring 32 goals and conceding just two on their way to Germany next summer.
Ronaldo has contributed nine of those goals, and on top of that he has 31 for his club, Al Nassr.
That makes him the world’s top scorer for club and country this calendar year, one ahead of Manchester City and Norway’s Erling Haaland on 39.
Just behind them is Hungary and Ferencvaros’ Barnabás Varga on 37, followed by Kylian Mbappe on 35, and Harry Kane on 33.
Ronaldo’s international future looked to be in doubt in December when Portugal were knocked out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage by Morocco.
He was seen in tears walking down the tunnel at full-time, and further reduced his Selecao chances by stepping away from elite level football with a move from Manchester United to the Saudi Pro League.
Since then, though, Martinez has continued to rely on the country’s all-time top scorer, and was seen hugging him emphatically during their latest victory.
Speaking post-match, Martinez said: «Cristiano Ronaldo has maximum experience and we need to use that.
“We are very clear about what we need to do to get the best out of each player for the team.
»I think that in international football we need time and synchronisation to play with clarity. The clarity we had allowed us
Read on talksport.com
