“I don’t break records, they haunt me!” - Cristiano Ronaldo makes claim after scoring 900th career goal in Portugal win
Cristiano Ronaldo has made a big claim after scoring the 900th goal of his career as Portugal beat Croatia 2-1. The legendary striker drove into the right place at the right moment for a cross from Nuno Mendes to meet him. It was a perfect delivery to the 39-year-old, who tapped home from point-blank range.
While the victory was for the Selecao on the night (September 5), the headlines focused on Ronaldo's record-breaking goal. The legendary striker has become the first player to score an impressive 900 goals, netting half of those while he was at Real Madrid.
He now sits just 100 goals away from being the first player in football to score 1000 career goals, and he looks set to continue his goalscoring run.
Speaking after the match against Croatia, Cristiano Ronaldo said (via Fabrizio Romano):
"900 goals seems like any other milestone, but only I know how hard it is to work every day to score your 900th goal. It's a unique milestone in my career. I don't break records... they haunt me!"
Behind Ronaldo is Lionel Messi, who is the only other player to have crossed the 800-goal mark. The Argentine legend is currently on 838 goals for club and country, having scored last during the Copa America this summer. However, injury has kept him on the sidelines in recent months, but he will be hoping to return in full swing.
Messi now has to score 62 more professional goals to reach Ronaldo's record. With the playmaker two years younger than his Portuguese counterpart, it doesn't seem out of the question to expect it to happen.
Cristiano Ronaldo reveals he will not retire in the near future
If Cristiano Ronaldo is to hit the 1000-goal mark, he will have to score another 100 goals. He has since made that his aim, and any thoughts of retiring will have to take the backburner for now.
Ronaldo recently spoke about his future, dismissing any thoughts of a near-future retirement. He explained during a press conference that his time, especially with the national team, was not yet up (via Al Jazeera):
"It never crossed my mind that my cycle [with Portugal] had come to an end. Quite the opposite: it gave me even more motivation to continue to be honest. The motivation is to come to the national team to win the Nations League …
"We’ve already won it once, and we want to do it again. I might say the same thing over and over again. But I don’t think long term; it’s always short term.”
Cristiano Ronaldo has already scored the second goal in Portugal's Nations League opener against Croatia, which will take him one step further to winning another trophy for his country. Crowning his efforts with the 1000-goal mark would be the supreme aim for him.