 "Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring for Portugal against Croatia. It was his 900th career goal. Reuters")
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 900th goal of his remarkable career on Thursday as Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in their first game of the UEFA Nations League.
Ronaldo, 39, converted a Nuno Mendes cross in the 34th minute of the match at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon to reach the landmark.
He was visibly emotional as he celebrated the goal, his 131st for the national side. In the celebration, Ronaldo raised his hands to his face and dropped to his knees.
Half of Ronaldo’s goals came for Real Madrid, with the remainder spread across his spells at Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United and current club Al-Nassr.
“It means a lot," Ronaldo said after the win. “It was a milestone I wanted to reach for a long time. I knew I would reach this number, because as I continue to play, it would happen naturally.”
“It was emotional because it’s a milestone,” he said. “It seems like any other milestone, but only I know, and the people around me, how hard it is to work every day, to be physically and psychologically fit, to score 900 goals. It’s a unique milestone in my career.”
Diogo Dalot’s goal had put Portugal ahead before Ronaldo netted, with a Dalot own-goal reducing the deficit before the break.
In the list of all-time scorers, five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo is 58 goals ahead of his nearest challenger, Lionel Messi, who is on 842. Brazilian legend Pele is third with 765.
Ronaldo had reached the 800-goal barrier, also the first to it, in late 2021 while playing for Manchester United.
The Portugal captain’s 131 international goals, from 209 matches, is also the highest tally. Argentina’s Messi is again second, he and former Iran forward Ali Daei both have 109 goals.
The 39-year-old Ronaldo made clear recently that he has no intention of retiring any time soon and said he is already targeting his next goal milestone.
“I want to reach 1,000 goals,” he told his former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand for his YouTube channel. “If I don’t have any injuries, this for me is the most important [thing], I want that. For me, the best mark that I can have in football is to reach, first, 900 goals. After, my challenge is to be at 1,000 goals.”
Ronaldo was quick to point out what would set his goals apart from those by other all-time great 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,” he said. “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.”
Cristiano Ronaldo’s 900 career goals:
450 goals for Real Madrid
145 goals for Manchester United
131 goals for Portugal
101 goals for Juventus
68 goals for Al Nassr
5 goals for Sporting