Indian Footballer Close to Smashing Messi's International Goals Record After Equaling Puskas' Tally

• India national football team captain, Sunil Chhetri, has equaled Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas' international goal record
• Chhetri netted his 86th international goal as India thrashed Hong Kong4-0 in the Asian Cup qualifiers
• The 37-year-old Indian footballer is now two goals away from equaling Argentina legend Lionel Messi's record

India captain Sunil Chhetri has walked into the top five players with the most international goals after scoring in the victory over Hong Kong in the Asian Cup qualifiers.

Chhetri equaled legendary Ferenc Puskas' 84 goal tally with his strike in the 4-0 thumping of Hong Kong.

The 37-year-old is now behind Ali Daei, Mokthar Dahari, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the list of top international goal scorers.

Chettri's 45th minute goal on Tuesday night in the Asian Cup qualifiers ensured India qualified for the tournament.

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With his 84 goals tally, he needs only two more goals to reach Lionel Messi's record. He is now third on the list of active players with the most international goals.

Cristiano Ronaldo sits top on the list with 117 goals in 188 international goals while Messi has 86 from 162 games. The Indian has played 129 times for his country.

“It feels good man, we knew we qualified before the game but to do it this way infront of all these people, satisfying feeling. I don’t use the word pretty often but really satisfying,” Chhetri said as quoted by Republicworld.com.

“I genuinely don’t care about records and personal milestones. I just want to enjoy myself as I move on to the last moments – just go out and enjoy on the pitch.”

Ronaldo nets brace to increase international goal tally

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday night, 5 June, scored a brace for Portugal in their 4-0 win over Switzerland thereby recording their first victory in the competition.

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Having drew the first encounter against Spain in which Cristiano Ronaldo came on in the second half, Portugal knew that they must win their second game and they did themselves lots of good.

Ronaldo and his teammates in the Portuguese national team started the match impressively and they had to wait until the 15th minute before netting the first goal through William Carvalho who got the assist from the Man United star.