Ronaldo slaps defender before taking penalty in FIFA WC qualifier match

Almancil (Portugal), Sep. 2 (IANS): Cristiano Ronaldo on Thursday became the all-time leading scorer in international men’s football. The Portuguese superstar scored twice in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers group match against Ireland.

Ronaldo scored twice in the final minutes of the match to set up a 2-1 win for Portugal, thus grabbing three points. It was Ronaldo’s night to remember against Ireland. But there was an incident that led to him slapping Irela’d’s defender Dara O’Shea before taking the penalty kick.

While Ronaldo, waiting at the penalty spot, was placing the bal’, O’Shea kicked the ball away. The move led to Ronaldo bouncing back by slapping the defender right across his shoulder.

O’Shea immediately fell to the ground holding his face but Ronaldo escaped any punishment as the referees did not catch the incident. R’naldo’s kick was saved by young goalkeeper Gavin Baznu.

Ireland took the lead in the match with a goal by John Egan in the 45th minute. Ronaldo then scored twice in the 89th and 90+6th minutes of the FIFA World Cup Qualifier at the Estadio Algarve, taking him to 111 goals for Portugal – two ahead of the previous record held by Iran’s Ali Daei.

Earlier this week, Ronaldo made the move from Juventus to Manchester United. CR7 has scored 118 goals in 292 games during his stay at Old Trafford between 2003 and 2009. He won three Premier League titles, the Champions League, the FA Cup, and two League Cups with United.