Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 800 career goals at club and international level, racking up the incredible milestone number in Manchester United’s Premier League clash with Arsenal.
Already with far more official strikes than goalscoring icon Pele, Ronaldo swept home the 800th of a historic career in front of the Stretford End at Old Trafford with his first of the night after being fed by Marcus Rashford early in the second half.
It was Ronaldo’s 11th goal for United since returning to the club in August. He scored 118 during his first spell in Manchester from 2003 to 2009, when he first established himself as a world class player, a club record 450 for Real Madrid, 101 for Juventus, five for first senior side Sporting CP while a teenager and a world record 115 in men’s international football for Portugal.
Ronaldo wasn’t initially a striker when he started out. He began as a tricky winger and it was his fourth season as a professional when he reached double figures in a single campaign.
From there, the Portuguese superstar exploded into life. He drove Manchester United to the 2006/07 Premier League title in a breakthrough season, scoring 23 in all competitions, before getting 42 the following year, a feat that underpinned his first Ballon d’Or in 2008.
After joining Real for a then world record £80m fee in 2009, Ronaldo reached even greater goalscoring heights. He scored 33 times in 34 games in his first season in Spain, before reaching unbelievable levels in the years that followed and going over 50 goals for six consecutive seasons between 2010 and 2016 – including peaks of 60 and 61 in 2011/12 and 2014/15 respectively.
Ronaldo went on to score more than a century of goals for Juventus in just three seasons in Italy and, even at the age of 36, has continued finding the net back at United.
In 18 years as a Portugal player, his 115 senior goals is a world record in men’s international football after breaking Ali Daei’s longstanding record earlier this year.
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Source : 90min