Ronaldo honoured by Uefa after winning 100th Portugal cap

Cristiano Ronaldo has been
honoured by Uefa after racking up
100 games for Portugal .
Prior to the 1-1 draw against Northern
Ireland in their latest World Cup
qualifier, the Portugal captain was
awarded a special plaque and cap by
Uefa officials.
In his 100 matches, Ronaldo has
scored 37 times; his first goal coming
in a 2-1 group stage defeat to Greece
in Euro 2004.
At 27-years-old, Ronaldo became the
third youngest player to achieve the
landmark after Germany's Lukas
Podolski and Estonia's Kristen
Viikmäe.
The Real Madrid star issued a
statement on his Facebook page,
reflecting on his 100 matches.
"I remember it was on August 20 2003
against Kazakhstan that I first pulled
on the Portuguese jersey in a senior
international," he remembered.
"It was one of the most memorable
moments of my life and began a
journey that I have been proud to
make. I would like to thank everyone
who helped me along the way to
reaching this milestone.
"As the teams were coming onto the
pitch last night the Portuguese fans at
the stadium unfurled a banner that
read "100 games, the best player in
the world".
Eleven more international goals will
see Ronaldo surpass Pauleta as
Portugal's all-time leading goalscorer
and he needs 28 more caps to beat
the appearance record set by Luis
Figo.
Portugal are currently five points adrift
of Group F leaders Russia in the race
for automatic qualification to the
World Cup 2014.