Cristiano Ronaldo turned the primary males’s participant in historical past to attain 900 targets in official matches, reaching his newest milestone in Portugal‘s UEFA Nations League match towards Croatia in Lisbon on Thursday.
Ronaldo secured the historic aim with a volley from 6 yards off a cross from Nuno Mendes to place Portugal 2-0 up within the thirty fourth minute. Portugal went on to win 2-1.
“It means rather a lot,” Ronaldo stated. “It was a milestone I needed to succeed in for a very long time. I knew I’d attain this quantity, as a result of as I proceed to play, it will occur naturally.”
Within the celebration, Ronaldo raised his arms to his face and dropped to his knees.
“It was emotional as a result of it is a milestone,” he stated. “It looks as if every other milestone, however solely I do know, and the individuals round me, how arduous it’s to work every single day, to be bodily and psychologically match, to attain 900 targets. It is a distinctive milestone in my profession.”
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is 58 targets forward of his nearest challenger, Lionel Messi, who’s on 842. Brazilian legend Pelé is third on the listing with 765.
I dreamed of this, and I’ve extra goals. Thanks all! pic.twitter.com/2SS3ZoG2Gl
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) September 5, 2024
Ronaldo was additionally the primary to break the 800-goal barrier, doing so in late 2021 whereas in his second stint with Manchester United.
The Portugal captain’s 131 worldwide targets in 209 appearances can also be probably the most all time. Messi is once more second behind Ronaldo on that listing; he and former Iran ahead Ali Daei each have 109 targets.
In addition to Al Nassr and Man United, Ronaldo additionally has divided his 769 membership targets amongst Sporting CP, Actual Madrid and Juventus.
The 39-year-old has made clear that he has no intention of slowing down any time quickly and just lately stated he’s already focusing on his subsequent aim milestone.
“I need to attain 1,000 targets,” he advised his former Man United teammate Rio Ferdinand for his YouTube channel, estimating that the historic mark might come across the age of 41. “If I haven’t got any accidents, this for me is crucial [thing], I would like that. For me, the perfect mark that I can have in soccer is to succeed in, first, 900 targets. After, my problem is to be at 1,000 targets.”
Ever aggressive, Ronaldo was fast to level out what would set his targets other than these by different all-time nice scorers, together with legends comparable to Pelé and Alfredo Di Stéfano, who performed in eras when cameras weren’t as prevalent.
“All of the targets I’ve scored, they’ve video,” he stated. “All of them have video. Pay attention, I respect all of them [Pelé and Di Stéfano]. And if you’d like extra targets, I can carry them from coaching, too. And I’ll show to the individuals after. They like this participant, or that is the perfect one. I do not care about that.”
Data from The Related Press contributed to this report.
