The 28-year-old moved to within four goals of leading scorer Pauleta after his hat-trick against Northern Ireland last month took him to 43 international strikes, two above Eusebio's tally.
Former Madrid attacker Luis Figo claimed Ronaldo was not in the same league as the Benfica legend despite his achievement, and now the 71-year-old himself as dismissed the comparisons, pointing to weaker modern-day opposition and a greater number of games as proof that his record remains superior.
It saddens me because you can't make that comparison, he told RTP. It's a mistake.
I played around 60 games to score my 41 goals. Now, after all these years, someone else has scored that many goals, but obviously that happens today because it's easier to play against some opponents. I never played against Lichtenstein or Azerbaijan.
