Cristiano Ronaldo Becomes First Player To Participate In Five Euro Finals
Fernando Santos started Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal’s game against Hungary at the Puskas Arena and the Juventus forward has officially become the first player to participate in five European Championships.
Ronaldo’s first European Championship was on home soil in 2004, followed by the tournament co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland in 2008, another one co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine four years later and the 2016 edition in France.
After winning the European Championship on French soil, the former Sporting CP, Manchester United and Real Madrid striker has broken yet another record.
He has already become the player to have played the most games in the final stages of the tournament with 22, the top scorer of the Euros including the qualifying rounds (40) and is level with Michel Platini with nine goals in the final stages of the competition.
The list of the players who have played in four European Championships is as follows: Lothar Matthaus (1980, 1984, 1988, 2000), Lukas Podolski (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016), Bastian Schweinsteiger (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016), Danish Peter Schmeichel (1988, 1992, 1996, 2000), Alessandro Del Piero (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008), Gianluigi Buffon (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016), Edwin van der Sar (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008), Lilian Thuram (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008), Olof Mellberg (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016), Andreas Isaksson (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) and Kim Kallstrom (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016), Petr Cech (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016), Jaroslav Plasil (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016) and Tomas Rosicky (2000, 2004, 2012, 2016) and Darijo Srna (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016).
