Cristiano Ronaldo becomes first man to score at five World Cups
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score in five different editions of the FIFA World Cup as he led his side to a 3-2 victory over Ghana on Thursday evening at a chilly Stadium 974 in Doha.
The Portuguese icon who is on the hunt for a new club after being released by Manchester United last week scored his record-breaking goal in the 65th minute.
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He dusted off himself and converted from the penalty spot after he conned the referee into awarding him a penalty after he was challenged by Mohammed Salisu in the box.
He converted it expertly, applying enough power and precision to fire the ball into the right-hand corner past Ghana goalie Lawrence Ati who dived the right way.
Incidentally, his first World Cup goal, against Iran on June 17, 2006, was from the penalty spot.
Lionel Messi, Miroslav Klose, Uwe Seeler and world football icon Pele have all scored in four FIFA World Cups.
Aged 37 years and 292 days he is also now the second-oldest scorer in World Cup history, behind Cameroon's Roger Milla.
“It was a beautiful moment, my fifth World Cup," he said in his brief Player of the Match press conference.
"We won, we started off on the right foot. I’m very proud and happy to become the fifth player to score in five tournaments."
My only focus was the World Cup, all the rest is not important," he added.
He is now just one goal behind Eusebio’s total of nine at the FIFA World Cup for Portugal.
Related: Qatar2022: Ghana starts World Cup campaign with 2:3 loss to Portugal
