SAN FRANCISCO, January 04, (THEWILL) – Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo netted twice for Italian giants Juventus in a Serie A match against Udinese on Sunday. By so doing, he overtook Brazilian footballing legend Pele in the list of all-time leading goalscorers.
With his 757th and 758th goals coming in either half of their 4-1 win, Ronaldo became the second highest goalscorer equalling Pele’s 757 goals haul before edging ahead of the icon.
The 35-year-old has now scored 758 goals across all competitions for club and country. The majority of these goals came in his trophy-laden stay in the Spanish capital with La Liga juggernauts Real Madrid. Of his 656 club goals, an incredible 450 of them came while the No. 7 plied his trade at Madrid.
In Portugal’s colours, Ronaldo has notched up 102 goals in 120 appearances. He has the chance to create another record there as his tally leaves him just seven goals behind the all-time holder of the record for international goals, Ali Daei of Iran.
He is within sights of equalling the all-time record tally as he is now just one goal away from player with the most goals: Josef Bican and his 759 goal total. No one will bet against this happening and it could come to pass within the week, even as early as on Wednesday, when Juventus visit AC Milan at the Guiseppe Meazza for their Matchday 16 fixture.
On the heels of the Portuguese is his arch-rival for accolades, honours and records: Lionel Messi. The Argentine ace trails Ronaldo by 16 goals having played 200 fewer matches than the Juventus marksman.
In his heydays, Pele scored 757 goals for Brazil, Santos and New York Cosmos between 1956 and 1977. Last month, Messi broke another Pele’s long-standing record, the one for the most goals scored for a single club, which had remained at 643 for years before Messi, who had equalled the record in a previous tie, scored against La Liga opponents Real Valladolid to go one up against Pele in the record books.
However, as THEWILL reported in December, Santos later disputed the claim of Messi outscoring their legend. They argued, with a calculation of their own to back it up, that Pele scored a whopping 1,091 goals for the club when all the goals were accounted for, rather than the previously held figure of 643.
Be that as it may, the haul of goals for each of Ronaldo and Messi is testament to the excellence with which they have played at the highest levels of football and the longevity they have maintained that excellence for.
As a result, almost every goal they score, every assist they make, every contribution they put into their teams’ victories propel them to further record-breaking feats to add to their stellar careers, which are already chock-full with record-breaking feats.
The footballing community is indeed privileged to be witnessing the lives of football legends in real time and seeing history being made in their lifetimes. And it may be a while before another pair of masterful football acts will grace the global scene and take the world by storm in quite the same way that either and both of them have done for as long as they have and as well.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
