Known as peerless double pride, Messi and Ronaldo are still struggling on the national team stage. On the 24th, Ronaldo represented Portugal in the European Championship qualifiers against Liechtenstein, while Messi returned to Argentina for his first national team match after winning the World Cup.
Ronaldo became the first person to make the first appearance for the national team
Cristiano Ronaldo played his 197th game for Portugal on March 24, with the superstar becoming the world's first men's national team appearance. Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals in the first round of Euro 2024 qualifiers to continue his lead in the all-time scorers list of national players with 120 goals, helping Portugal to a 4-0 home win over Liechtenstein.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored
Portugal is ranked ninth in the world and Liechtenstein is ranked 198th, and the two teams are very different in strength. The score is not too big, but too small, as Liechtenstein lost 9-0 away to Germany in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined the first team of Portuguese Premier League giants Sporting de Portugal in 2001 and played at Sporting de Portugal's home stadium, Stade Alvalade, had a special significance for the superstar, who continued to start as captain of Portugal. In the 50th minute, Joao Cancelo created a penalty opportunity and Cristiano Ronaldo hit the penalty to give Portugal a 3-0 lead. Cristiano Ronaldo knocked on the Liechtenstein goal for the first time, the 47th national team to be scored by him. In the 63rd minute, Cristiano Ronaldo's direct free kick was saved by goalkeeper Butcher and went into the net, extending the score to 4-0.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored
Cristiano Ronaldo scored two consecutive free kicks in the Saudi League and national team matches, the 60th free kick of his career, just one goal behind Messi. The top three free-kick goals were Junior Junior (Brazil, 77), Ronaldinho (Brazil, 66) and David Beckham (England, 65).
Portugal had 35 shots on goal and 11 on target, and the goal conversion rate was not high, and Liechtenstein goalkeeper Butcher had a divine help. Cristiano Ronaldo was replaced by Ramos in the 78th minute, with substitutes such as Leon and Ramos failing to help Portugal extend the scoreline.
Ronaldo wrote on his social media account after the match: "It feels fantastic to play for our national team again and score in a special stadium, proud to be the player with the most appearances in the history of the national team. ”
Messi scored 800 career goals
World Cup champions Argentina played a warm-up match on the morning of March 24 with a 2-0 home win over Panama, with Messi scoring the goal to seal the win. In the 89th minute, Messi's free kick flew over the wall into the net, scoring the 800th goal of his career. Messi scored 99 goals for Argentina, 672 for Barcelona and 29 for Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi scores
After more than three months, this is Argentina's first appearance. On December 18 last year, Argentina defeated France on penalties in the World Cup final, and Messi won the World Cup for the first time. Not long ago, FIFA's annual awards ceremony became Argentina's special game, Messi was named the 2022 World Footballer of the Year, and coach Scaloni and goalkeeper Martinez were named Coach of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year respectively.
Compared to that final, Scaloni played the exact same starting line-up this time, with Messi, Di Maria and Alvarez playing as forwards, and the three midfielders being Enzo, McAllister and De Paul. Argentina not only led 2-0 in the first half of the World Cup final, but also prevented France from creating decent scoring chances, but this game encountered great difficulties.
Before the start of the game, Messi's son Thiago helped the king of Messi to wear the captain's armband. Although Panama is not strong, ranking only 61st in the world, the style of play is tough. The match was actually another victory celebration for Argentina, but the Panamanian players were not fans, but tough opponents. In the 16th minute, Messi was viciously fouled by Panamanian left-back Galvan with the ball, Messi was bloodied on his leg, and Galvan was shown a yellow card. Messi's free-kick hit the goal frame and missed the opening chance. In the first half, Argentina led 10-1 in shots and possession of 76%, but failed to score.
Scaloni made successive substitutions in the second half, first replacing Alvarez, McAllister and Otamendi with Lautaro, Almada and Lisandro, and then replacing Di Maria, Enzo and Tagliafico with Dybala, Paredes and Acuña. In the 78th minute, Messi's free kick hit the goal frame again, Paredes missed the right shot, and midfielder Almada Almada, who plays for American professional league team Atlanta United, quickly added a shot into the net to finally break the deadlock for Argentina. In the 89th minute, Messi went down again.
Proofreading by Xu Heng