Cristiano Ronaldo proves he's getting better with age after reaching incredible career landmark
09/30/2024 05:16 PM
Cristiano Ronaldo proved that he’s ageing like a fine wine with another landmark goal for Al Nassr.
The Portuguese superstar netted his side’s second goal of the game to earn a 2-1 victory over Al Rayyan in the AFC Champions League.
While earning Al Nassr’s first victory in Group B, Ronaldo also reached a rather impressive landmark.
Ronaldo’s strike against Al Rayyan means that he has now scored more goals in his 30s than he managed in his 20s.
The 39-year-old has scored a staggering 441 goals since his 30th birthday, a tally that has come in just 523 games.
That’s in contrast to the 440 goals that he netted during his 20s, doing so in 596 matches.
Ronaldo turned 30 on February 5, 2015 when he was at Real Madrid.
It was during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu that the Portuguese superstar transitioned from a wide attacker to an out and out centre-forward – a position that allowed him to become a much more ruthless goalscoring force.
That means that Ronaldo’s 441 strikes in his 30s have come during his time in Madrid along with his spells at Juventus, Manchester United, Al Nassr and Portugal, scoring 132 times for his national team.
His strike against Al Rayyan was also the 904th goal that Ronaldo has scored in his career so far.
He has already signalled his intent to close in on 1,000 career goals before he hangs up his boots.
Brazil icon Pele is considered the highest goalscorer of all time by some, with FIFA crediting him with 1,281 goals, but it is now widely accepted that hundreds of those goals came in friendly matches.
Speaking before he reached the landmark of 900 goals, Ronaldo told Ferdinand: "I want to reach 1,000 goals.
"For me it’s the best mark that I can have in football, to reach, first 900 goals. After, my challenge is 1,000 goals.
"With one difference, all the goals that I score, they have video. So I can prove that it's [real]."
The admission stunned the former centre-back, who replied: “F****** hell! How old are you going to be then when you’re still playing?”
Ronaldo confidently claimed that he will be able to make up the deficit in under two years, should he remain injury free: “41? We don’t know. But if I’m not having injuries.”
On current form, it would take a brave person to bet against Ronaldo reaching 1,000 career goals and who knows, perhaps his 40s will be even more fruitful than his 30s!
