Cristiano Ronaldo becomes first ever player in the history of world football to win 800 matches with clubs and country
Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo recently became the first footballer to win 800 matches with club and country after he led Al-Nassr to a 4-3 win against Emirati outfit Al-Ain.
Although Al-Nassr won the game, which was the second leg of the AFC Champions League quarterfinals, it resulted in a 4-4 aggregate scoreline at the end of the 120 minutes.
Ronaldo calmly slotted his penalty into the back of the net in the ensuing shootout. However, his side ended up crashing out of the competition 3-1 on penalties after misses from Marcelo Brozovic, Alex Telles, and Otavio.
Despite the unfortunate result on the night, there was a small cause for celebration. According to football statistics organization IFFHS, it was the Portuguese talisman's 675th club-level win, which, alongside his 125 wins with the national team, takes his tally to 800 wins overall.
The most wins out of those 675 unsurprisingly came during his time at Spanish side Real Madrid (316 wins), with Manchester United in second place (214 wins) and Juventus in third (91 wins).
These wins resulted in five UEFA Champions League titles, three Premier League titles, two La Liga titles, two Serie A titles, and the 2016 European Championships, among other trophies.
Thierry Henry discusses the one Cristiano Ronaldo skill that he couldn't master
In a recent CBS Sports segment, Thierry Henry talked about the secrets of his free-kick technique, and explained why he could never master Cristiano Ronaldo's trademark 'knuckleball' free-kick.
The Arsenal legend scored 12 free-kicks during his time in the Premier League, sitting joint-fourth with Ronaldo's Manchester United tally in the all-time free-kick charts of the EPL.
However, the Frenchman employed a vastly different technique from dead ball situations than his Portuguese counterpart. While Ronaldo used a 'knuckleball', Henry preferred a curled shot.
Explaining why it didn't suit his body type, the French forward referenced former Dutch forward Pierre van Hooijdonk's technique as well, saying:
"It's practice, your body will tell you what works or not. Some people didn't believe that... I remember [Pierre] van Hooijdonk used to be able to hit it with his laces over the ball... if I did that, I would do my cruciate. That leg is naturally open for me, so I knew I had to curl it. When you are close to the goal, you just need to get past the wall, you don't need to hit it hard."