'He Has A Nose For Goal,' Manchester United Star Hails Ronaldo For Scoring 101 Portugal Goals

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes heaped praise on his compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo after the Juventus star created history Tuesday.

Ronaldo became the first-ever European player to net 100 international goals, before passing the 100-goal mark by scoring one more. He scored both the goals during Portugal’s 2-0 win over Sweden at the ongoing UEFA Nations League.

Iran’s Ali Daei (109) is the only player with more international goals than Ronaldo, which the former had scored during his playing career between 1993 and 2006. In the list of most international goals, Ronaldo is followed by India's Sunil Chhetri (72) and Argentina's Lionel Messi (70).

Ronaldo’s brace meant Portugal have won both their opening matches, and that’s a great start for the defending champions at the 2020-21 Nations League.

When Fernandes moved from Sporting Lisbon to Man Utd, many stated the 26-year-old midfielder was following Ronaldo’s footsteps. It was also reported that Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer consulted with his former Red Devils teammate Ronaldo before signing Fernandes during the 2020 January transfer window.

After Ronaldo’s memorable brace on Tuesday that put him in history books, Fernandes hailed his Portugal teammate saying Ronaldo "has a nose for goal".

"We know that [with Ronaldo] it is easier to reach the goal. He has a nose for goal and can solve a game at any time. That was what happened before half-time, in a free-kick situation. Just yesterday he had six or seven like that in training and today he did the same. It's great to have Cristiano. He makes any team stronger," said Fernandes in a post-match interview, as reported by Goal.

After becoming the only second player ever to score a century of international goals, Ronaldo took to social media to express his delight.

"Huge pride in this historical goal for our national team! When they tell me I can reach 100, I say it's not enough...101 goals for Portugal," the five-time Ballon d’Or winner wrote on his Instagram account.

With a 4-1 win over Croatia and now 2-0 victory against Sweden, Portugal have bagged six points from the first two matches at the Nations League. Ronaldo and Co. will next be in action in October when they face Spain in a friendly fixture before resuming their Nations League journey by taking on France in Paris.