Football icon, Cristiano Ronaldo has made history after becoming the first men’s player in history to score 900 goals in official matches on Thursday, during Portugal’s UEFA Nations League match against Croatia in Lisbon.
In the match which Portugal won 2-1, the Portuguese reached his latest milestone, scoring the historic goal with a volley from 6 yards off a cross from Nuno Mendes to put Portugal 2-0 up in the 34th minute.
On the list of top scorers, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is 58 goals ahead of his nearest challenger, Lionel Messi, who is on 842, while Brazilian legend, Pelé is third on the list with 765.
Interestingly, the name Ronaldo has been synonymous with making history. While in his second stint with Manchester United, Ronaldo was also the first to break the 800-goal barrier, in late 2021.
Another remarkable achievement was Ronaldo’s scoring of 131 international goals in 209 appearances tagged as the most all-time.
Again, Messi is second behind Ronaldo on that list; he and former Iran forward Ali Daei both have 109 goals.
Ronaldo also has divided his 769 club goals among Sporting CP, Real Madrid and Juventus, as well as Al Nassr and Man United.
Ronaldo, 39, recently said he is already targeting his next goal milestone, stressing that he has no intention of slowing down any time soon.
While communicating with his former Man United teammate Rio Ferdinand, on his YouTube channel, estimating that the historic mark could come around the age of 41, he said,
“I want to reach 1,000 goals,”
“If I don’t have any injuries, this is the most important [thing] for me, and I want that. For me, the best mark that I can have in football is to reach 900 goals first. After, my challenge is to be at 1,000 goals.”
Ever competitive, Ronaldo was quick to point out what would set his goals apart from those of other all-time scorers, including legends such as Pele and Alfredo Di Stefano, who played in eras when cameras weren’t as prevalent.
“All the goals I have scored, they have video.
“They all have video. Listen, I respect all of them [Pele and Di Stefano]. And if you want more goals, I can bring them from training, too. And I will prove to the people after. They prefer this player, or this is the best one. I don’t care about that,” he added.
