Ronaldo's 100th International Goal Halted By Coronavirus
28 March, 2020
On a day when Cristiano Ronaldo should have been turning out for international duty with Portugal, the global superstar's hopes of scoring his 100th goal for his country have instead been halted by the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Before the suspension of football activities around Europe as a result of coronavirus outbreak, Portugal had been scheduled to face Belgium within an international friendly today in preparation for his or her 2020 UEFA European Championship campaign, which includes also since been postponed.
The fixture against the world's current highest-ranked nation could have afforded Ronaldo, who has 99 goals for Portugal, the possibility to become only the second player in football's history to attain a hundred years of goals at international level, after Iran's Ali Daei.
Since there is no guarantee that Ronaldo could have reached the milestone against Belgium to get started with, the Juventus star has a favourable record against the EUROPEAN nation, having netted three goals against them in previous encounters.
Instead, as with many people all over the world, the 35-year-old has been forced into self-isolation and will have to wait until at least May and June's friendly matches against Slovenia, Spain and Malta to break the record, assuming these fixtures aren't also postponed or cancelled.
The outbreak of the coronavirus, and the next postponement of Euro 2020, in addition has come as a blow to Portugal's hopes of retaining their European crown, with Ronaldo and other key members of the squad all aged in, or approaching, their mid-30s.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za
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