Cristiano Ronaldo's mother couldn't hold back the tears as her son reached 117 goals for Portugal at his boyhood stadium.
The 37-year-old bagged a quick-fire brace in his side's rampant 4-0 victory over Switzerland in the Nations League. Ronaldo, captaining the team after starting on the bench in Thursday's 1-1 draw away to Spain, got Portugal started with 15 minutes on the clock by blasting a free-kick towards goal and allowing William Carvalho to tap in the rebound.
Then the Manchester United superstar got on the scoresheet himself, netting twice in the space of four minutes with a pair of first-time finishes, set up by Liverpool 's Diogo Jota.
Ronaldo celebrated by pointing to the sky, just as he did after scoring his first goal for United following the tragic passing of his newborn son in April. His mum, Maria Dolores, was seen shedding tears of pride while wearing a Portugal shirt in the stands.
Perhaps what made the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's heroics even more emotional was the fact they were scored at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, the home of Sporting Lisbon. Ronaldo spent six years with the Portuguese giants as a youngster before making the move to Old Trafford in 2003, aged only 18.
That summer, United memorably played Sporting in a friendly match to open the Estadio Jose Alvalade and it was the famous game in which Sir Alex Ferguson 's all-conquering team were beaten 3-1 and stunned by a tricky young winger in green and white. That boy was Ronaldo, now the all-time leading goalscorer in men's international football, eight ahead of Iran legend Ali Daei.
The former Real Madrid and Juventus talisman is used to those kind of accolades, recently declaring that "records follow me." "The records, it's coming in a natural way," Ronaldo began on an episode of United's Player Diaries. "I don't follow the records but the records follow me. So it's good.
"It's still my motivation to carry on. Just working hard. I still love the passion for the game. And of course Manchester and my team-mates helped me all the way so I have to appreciate all the people who help Cristiano.
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"But the most important thing for me is to try to win the games and try to win some championship or some cup but I believe that Manchester will be where they belong. Sometimes it takes time, but I still believe."
Sunday's emphatic win puts Portugal top of Group A2, having been crowned champions of the inaugural Nations League three years ago. Ronaldo will be hoping to carry his goalscoring form into their World Cup campaign in Qatar later this year, as Fernando Santos and co face Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea in Group H.
