Cristiano Ronaldo’s Scotland pain gets worse as Lionel Messi equals his record

CRISTIANO RONALDO huffed and puffed at Hampden but couldn’t blow the house down.

And as he stormed off the pitch unhappy with both the officials and the result, he woke up to some more bad news this morning that concerned his long-time rival, Lionel Messi.

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Al Nassr forward Ronaldo, 39, was captain of the Portugal side that drew 0-0 with Scotland in their latest Nations League group stage clash.

His huff at Hampden was prompted by the officials’ decision to blow for full-time rather than a corner at the end of the match.

The Real Madrid and Manchester United icon was winning his 216th cap for his country but wasn’t able to add to his 133 goals.

For much of Ronaldo’s career, he and Argentina legend Messi have traded records and stats like two boxers exchanging jabs and uppercuts.

While Inter Miami star Messi still trails Ronaldo on 112 international goals, the Barcelona hero equalled one of his old foe’s treasured records last night.

Argentina were in action against Bolivia in a CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier.

La Albiceleste won 6-0 at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires and Messi, 37, was at the heart of it.

He provided assists for Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez but more importantly, he bagged three goals of his own.

And that takes his total tally of international hat-tricks to ten – level with Ronaldo.

Messi opened the scoring for Argentina in the 19th minute as he pounced on a slip up from Marcelo Suárez to run away and slot the ball home past Guillermo Viscarra.

His second goal was something of a trademark, as he picked the ball up in space 30 yards from goal and teased the defence before shifting the ball onto his right foot and steering it home from the edge of the area.

And his third goal was a carbon copy of many we have seen for Barca over the years, with Messi picking up the ball on the right hand side of the final third, playing a pass into the feet of a team mate just inside the box and cutting inside to receive the lay off and making no mistake with the finish.

After the Pprtugal squad had trudged off the pitch at Hampden, midfielder Joao Palhinha remarked “it’s better to remain silent” after being asked about the controversial late call, as Portugal were pushing for a winner.

He said: “Refereeing? If I were to give my honest opinion..

“I don’t want to mince words, it’s better to remain silent. For those who understand, half a word is enough.”

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