Real Madrid dominates as Ronaldo scores 500th goals in Club World Cup against Club America
Real Madrid won 2-0 against Mexico's Club America in Club World Cup semifinals on Thursday in Japan. However, this is not an ordinary victory for the Madrid giant. There is more than just going to the tournament's final.
Real Madrid's striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored his milestone 500th goals for Madrid. His second goal proved that the Portuguese deserved the world's best player title. This winning also extended Madrid's unbeaten run to 36 games.
However, ESPN reported the goal once sparked controversy when the linesman was about to cancel the goal due to Ronaldo's offside position. However, the referee finally confirmed the goal with the help of FIFA's new video technology (VAR).
For the first time in FIFA's competition, the technology of video replay was used to help referees and linesmen make a decision. On Wednesday's tournament semifinal between Atletico Nacional of Colombia and the Kashima Antlers of Japan, a video replay was requested to decide a penalty kick. Kashima Antlers stunned Atletico by winning 3-0 and will face Real Madrid in the final.
The system itself, however, triggered pros and cons as always. Madrid's Luka Modric detested the system and hoped the world's football governing body would change it. While Madrid's coach Zinedine Zidane appreciated FIFA's effort to improve the game, adding that there should be some improvements in the future.
Back to Ronaldo again. The 31-year-old Portuguese joined Real Madrid in 2009 breaking a then-world-record transfer fee worth £80 million. He has scored 500th goals in 689 matches. His 377th goals for Real Madrid arrived in 367 games. His goals also included 118 goals in 292 for Manchester United and five in 31 for Sporting Lisbon, as quoted by AS.
In the UEFA Champions League, Ronaldo has also set a record; 95 goals in 133 games.
However, Club America was also brave and quite confident to face the world's best club. They showed a solid team and soccer fans appreciated their performance. Now the club is back again and will focus on winning the domestic title.
Now Real fans are hoping Ronaldo will break a record again on Sunday.
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