Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo tied former Iranian striker Ali Daei’s record of 109 goals in men’s international soccer with a pair of penalties in Wednesday’s Group F finale against France.
Ronaldo also added to his own benchmark at the European Championships, bringing his tournament total to an unparalleled 14 tallies.
Canadian women’s star Christine Sinclair holds the all-time international scoring record with 186 goals in 297 matches.
Daei set the men’s record in an astonishing 149 appearances – 29 fewer than Ronaldo needed to hit the milestone. However, Daei played the majority of his international matches in the less competitive Asian Football Confederation.
#
Player
Country
Goals
Matches
1
Ali Daei
Iran
109
149
2
Cristiano Ronaldo
Portugal
109
178
3
Mokhtar Dahari
Malaysia
89
143
4
Ferenc Puskas
Hungary/Spain
84
89
5
Godfrey Chitalu
Zambia
79
111
Ronaldo entered his fifth European Championship with the competition’s scoring record and the all-time men’s mark within view. The forward was previously tied with three-time Ballon d’Or winner Michel Platini on nine goals at the Euros.
The 36-year-old leads this year’s tournament with five goals, including three penalties.
UEFA’s executive committee approved a rule change Thursday that will eliminate the away goals rule in all club competitions for the 2021-22 season.
Knockout ties in which both sides score the same number of goals over the two legs will now be decided by two 15-minute extra periods followed by penalties if required, UEFA’s statement announced.
The rule will be in place in all men’s, women’s, and youth competitions under the umbrella of European football’s governing body.
The away goals rule has been employed by UEFA in its competitions since 1965. According to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, discussions have taken place over the last few years to modify or eliminate the policy.
“The impact of the rule now runs counter to its original purpose as, in fact, it now dissuades home teams – especially in first legs – from attacking, because they fear conceding a goal that would give their opponents a crucial advantage,” Ceferin added.
“There is also criticism of the unfairness, especially in extra time, of obliging the home team to score twice when the away team has scored.”
The abolishment of the rule also means away goals will no longer be criteria for determining places in the group stages for two sides with the same number of points.
Sourcing statistics from the mid-1970s until the present, there has been a continuous reduction in the difference between the number of home/away victories (from 61%/19% to 47%/30%), according to UEFA. Additionally, there has been a gradual change in the number of goals scored per match in men’s competitions, home and away (from 2.02/0.95 to 1.58/1.15).
Standardized pitch sizes, improved stadiums, and enhanced refereeing with the introduction of video replay are among other factors that UEFA considers to have “blurred the lines between playing at home and away.”
The Argentine will sign a two-year contract extension with the Blaugrana, according to The Guardian’s Fabrizio Romano, ending a tense year-long standoff that nearly resulted in an acrimonious exit last summer.
Messi was set to become a free agent on June 30.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta said last month he was “moderately optimistic” that Messi would re-sign with the club.
“He deserves more and could get a better contract somewhere else, but I’m convinced he appreciates the efforts we are making,” Laporta added. “I think he is keen to stay.
“For Leo, it’s not about money. It’s about winning. And that’s what we are working on.”
Messi informed Barcelona of his desire to leave after a historic 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals last August. The soon-to-be 34-year-old and his father Jorge believed they could unilaterally terminate Messi’s contract and demanded his immediate release. Barcelona insisted no such termination clause existed, saying any team interested in signing Messi would have to pay his €700-million release clause.
Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain emerged as Messi’s most likely destinations, and the six-time Ballon d’Or winner reportedly held conversations with City boss Pep Guardiola at around the time of his feud with Barcelona.
Messi ultimately decided against legal action and saw out the final year of his four-year contract, which reportedly paid up to €138 million per season.
The superstar winger’s chances of staying increased as the campaign went on. Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned as Barcelona president in October as club members filed a petition to remove him from his position.
Laporta won the organization’s presidential election in March and thanked Messi for taking part in the vote.
On the field, manager Ronald Koeman appeared to answer Messi’s calls for a new project and emphasized several youth players, including academy graduates Pedri, Ansu Fati, and Oscar Mingueza. Messi also kicked into gear, helping the club win the Copa del Rey, its first trophy in two years, while finishing the season with 38 goals across all competitions.
Now comes the tricky part. Barcelona’s total debt stands at €1.173 billion, and the side risks exceeding La Liga’s salary cap if it fails to trim fat elsewhere. La Liga president Javier Tebas implored Barcelona to reduce their wages, or the league could prevent the club from registering any new contracts – including Messi’s.
Laporta reportedly secured a €500-million line of credit in May to ease the financial burden.
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — After topping all running backs last season in yards per attempt, J.K. Dobbins has taken over the lead role for the NFL’s top rushing attack.
Any concerns about a sophomore slump? Not after this sophomore slight.
During the Baltimore Ravens’ recent minicamp, it took Dobbins until only the second question to bring up how Pro Football Focus ranked him 26th among all NFL running backs.
“You know that chip on my shoulder is pretty big,” Dobbins said. “Just a little fuel, like PFF ranking me 26th … I don’t think I’m 26th, but I love that. That gives me room to improve. I’ve got people to prove wrong.”
Getting snubbed is not something new for Dobbins. Considered by some experts as the No. 1 running back in the 2020 draft, Dobbins fell toward the bottom of the second round and watched four running backs get selected before him.
Motivated by the slide in the draft, Dobbins finished as the second-leading rookie rusher last season, gaining 805 yards and scoring nine touchdowns. He also averaged nearly six yards per carry, at least one yard more than Jonathan Taylor (5.0), D’Andre Swift (4.6), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (4.4) and Cam Akers (4.3) — all the backs drafted before Dobbins.
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The Ravens haven’t had a young, all-around running back since Ray Rice seven years ago. Since that time, Baltimore has relied on stop-gap backs like Justin Forsett, Terrance West, Alex Collins and Mark Ingram II.
In order to have long-term success and prove the critics wrong, Dobbins said he understands it takes more than maintaining physical strength.
“I think a lot of people overlook mental strength,” Dobbins said. “The NFL season is a long season, especially for a rookie. It’s different than college; you play a lot of games. And mentally, you have to be ready. You have to be on point with your mental, because if you’re not, then your body, none of that’s going to work. I feel like I’ve been learning this offseason to have my mental ready, body ready, all of that. I feel like I’m locked and loaded.”
