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• Southgate lauds 'extraordinary' England record-breaker Kane

  Gareth Southgate felt the "extraordinary" Harry Kane showed his "mental strength" by scoring a record-breaking goal in England's 2-1 Euro 2024 qualifying win against Italy.

  The Three Lions gained a measure of revenge for their loss to the Azzurri in the final of the last European Championship at Wembley with a victory in their Group C opener at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

  Declan Rice opened the scoring and Kane become England's outright leading goalscorer with a penalty at the end of the first half in Naples on Thursday.

  A debut goal for the Argentina-born Mateo Retegui in the second half and Luke Shaw's late red card could not prevent England from securing a first away win over Italy since May 1961.

  It was a special night for Kane, who broke a record he shared with Wayne Rooney by scoring his 54th goal for England.

  A commanding first-half display enabled Southgate to become the third England manager to celebrate 50 victories in charge of the national team after Alf Ramsey (69) and Walter Winterbottom (78).

  Southgate hailed his captain, who stepped up to make history in the Three Lions' first game since he crucially missed a spot-kick in a World Cup quarter-final defeat to France in December.

  He said: "Kane was extraordinary. Breaking the record in these conditions demonstrates all the mental strength he has.

  "It's truly an exceptional achievement; the players cheered for him and this is a reaction both to the record and what he had to go through in Qatar."

  England were a cut above Italy in the first half, but it was a different story after the break and Southgate felt they made life difficult for themselves following such an impressive start.

  "We had an exceptional first half, while it was a very tough second half," he said. "We showed two different faces; we controlled the game very well in the first half as soon as we escaped the first line of pressing and at the interval it might have been 3-0.

  "At the beginning of the second half we made some wrong decisions and the momentum changed."

• Ronaldo's commitment and experience crucial for Portugal's new cycle – Martinez

  Roberto Martinez believes Cristiano Ronaldo's experience and commitment is crucial to Portugal's new cycle.

  Ronaldo became the most-capped men's player of all time when he took to the field in Lisbon on Thursday for his 197th Portugal appearance.

  The 38-year-old marked the occasion with two goals, scoring from the penalty spot before lashing in a free-kick to complete a 4-0 rout over Liechtenstein in Euro 2024 qualifying Group J.

  Joao Cancelo put Portugal ahead early on and Bernardo Silva netted shortly after half-time, with Martinez's tenure getting off to the simplest of starts.

  Ronaldo was dropped to the bench by previous coach Fernando Santos for Portugal's World Cup knock-out games, but Martinez wanted to get the five-time Ballon d'Or winner into his starting XI.

  "It's a new cycle," Martinez told Portuguese media outlets.

  "It's important for a player to show commitment and [to know] that we can use his experience, and Cristiano shows that."

  Posting on social media, Ronaldo expressed his pride at sending yet another record tumbling.

  "Such good feelings to play and score again for our national team, in a special stadium for me," Ronaldo wrote. "Proud to be the [most-capped] international player ever."

  Reflecting on his team's dominant display, in which Portugal had 35 attempts and accumulated an expected goals (xG) of 3.9 to Liechtenstein's 0.03, Martinez said: "We have to enjoy situations like this.

  "I realised that when you play for Portugal it's special. The players follow that line, it was a step forward to prepare for the next game.

  "Of course it's an opportunity for me to get to know the players, the interaction, see how to take better advantage of the qualities. But I'm left with the attitude and willingness to work. I'm very proud of the result."

  Portugal continue their qualification campaign against Luxembourg on Sunday.

• Ronaldo becomes most-capped men's international footballer

  Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo has become the most-capped men's international footballer of all time.

  The Al Nassr forward won his 197th cap in Thursday's opening Euro 2024 qualifier against Liechtenstein, moving him one clear of Kuwait forward Bader Al-Mutawa.

  Malaysia's Soh Chin Ann (195 caps) is third on the list, with Ahmed Hassan (184) and Ahmed Mubarak (183) of Egypt and Oman respectively completing the top five.

  Ronaldo had equalled Al-Mutawa's record when featuring for Portugal in their World Cup quarter-final defeat to Morocco in December.

  Speaking ahead of the meeting with Liechtenstein at Estadio Jose Alvalade, Ronaldo revealed he contemplated retiring from international football after that defeat.

  But he was named in new head coach Roberto Martinez's first squad and made more history when appearing against minnows Liechtenstein in Lisbon.

  Ronaldo, who also holds the record for most men's international goals (118), earned his first cap in 2003 when replacing Luis Figo in a friendly against Kazakhstan.

  The five-time Ballon d'Or winner, who won Euro 2016 with Portugal, has played against Luxembourg (10 games) more times than any other nation, followed by Spain (nine).

  Luxembourg are also the country Ronaldo has scored against the most, finding the net nine times, while he has scored seven times against Lithuania and Sweden.

  He has played 47 times for Portugal at major tournaments – 25 times at the European Championships and 22 at the World Cup – and is hopeful of featuring at Euro 2024.

  "My biggest wish is to be able to take Portugal as high as possible," Ronaldo said on Wednesday. "I will always play my part when needed.

  "Earning records is always a positive thing and it motivated me. I like to break records and will now break another special one. It makes me very proud.

  "But beyond [Thursday] I still have plenty of games left. Let's see if the coach still wants to count on me to be available."