Cristiano Ronaldo scores 100th international goal as Portugal beat Sweden in

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first European male player to score 100 international goals as he helped Portugal beat Sweden 2-0 in the Nations League.

The 35-year-old reached his century in style with a brilliant free-kick to give Portugal the lead in the League A Group Three match just before half-time.

He then struck again in the 73rd minute from outside the box to close on former Iran striker Ali Daei’s record of 109 international goals.

“I managed to beat this milestone of 100 goals and now (I’ll go) for the record,” said Ronaldo. “It’s step-by-step. I am not obsessed because I believe the records come in a natural way.

“When I had this problem in my toe I always knew that I could recover for this second game. I like to be here, with this group of players, coach, staff and knew that they would play well in the first game as our squad is too good and no one is irreplaceable.”

Ronaldo was a constant threat to Sweden’s back line in the early exchanges, hanging on the shoulder of the last defender before bursting forward to beat the offside trap, but Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen was equal to the task.

That all changed when Gustav Svensson received his second yellow card and was sent packing after a reckless challenge on Joao Moutinho on the edge of his own box just before half-time.

Ronaldo stepped up and smashed a dipping effort beyond the despairing dive of Olsen and just under the crossbar before breaking into a wide smile as he celebrated with his team mates.

Sweden were struggling to contain the visitors and Ronaldo struck again with a dipping effort.

Additional reporting from Reuters