1236 matches, 900 goals. Goal machine Cristiano Ronaldo reaches another football milestone

The 39-year-old Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player in football history to reach 900 career goals for both club and country on September 6.

In a match against Croatia in the UEFA Nations League, Ronaldo scored his 900th in the 34 minute from a Nuno Mendes cross.

“It means a lot,” AP quoted Ronaldo as saying after Portugal’s 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”.

Argentine legend, Lionel Messi is second on the most goals scored tally with a total of 859 goals in his career, while austria Josef Bican, ranks third having scored 805 career goals in his career, playing for SK Slavia Prague and Czech Republic. Brazilian legend Romario ranks fourth in the all time leading goalscorer list having netted 772 goals. 

The Portugal international has had magical spells with clubs Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and now Al-Nassr. He’s won the Ballon d'Or and the Champions League five times each during his career.

Throughout his club career, Cristiano has scored an impressive 450 goals for Real Madrid, 145 for Manchester United, 101 for Juventus, and 68 for his current team, Al Nassr. He netted 5 goals for Sporting Lisbon, the club where he began his professional career when he was 17.

He is also the highest goalscorer in International football with 131 goals for his country in 213 caps.

Here’s a look back at the illustrious football career of Ronaldo and the best goals he has scored.

First of many

Sporting Lisbon vs Moreirense - Liga Portugal, October 2002

Cristiano, who began his career as a winger, failed to score in his first four games for Sporting Lisbon - before finding the net twice against Moreirense in the Primeira League on October 7, 2002 in his fifth match as a professional. His five goals for Sporting all came in his debut campaign as a professional footballer in 2002-03.

Ronaldo picked speed from the midfield with the ball and dribbled past 3-4 players before netting it home, marking the beginning of history.

Centurion Cristiano

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspurs, 2008

The 100th goal in Ronaldo’s career came in his 300th game, where he scored a penalty against Spurs’ keeper Radek Cerny.

A right-footed rocket at Porto

Manchester United vs FC Porto, UCL Quarter finals 2009

The Portuguese legend took Porto’s Estadio do Dragao by surprise by smashing the ball in the top corner from 40 yards out in the sixth minute of this game. 64.2 miles per hour. That was the speed of his shot. Ronaldo's sublime strike was enough to win the tie.

United went on to lose 2-0 to Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League final in Ronaldo's last game for Ferguson's team before his £80 million transfer to Madrid, which was a world-record fee at the time. 

The El-Classico Classique

 Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid, La Liga 2012

 This goal was not a screamer, not something that would make you leap from your couch, but it was one of the most important goals of his career at Real Madrid. The Galacticos were aiming to end Barcelona’s domestic dominance at Camp Nou and win their first La Liga title since 2008.

Sami Khedira opened the scoring for the visitors before Alexis Sanchez equalized. Then came Ronaldo's moment. He latched onto Mesut Ozil's perfectly timed pass before finding the net and celebrated with his famous 'calm down' show, silencing Barcelona's home.

"We have to congratulate Madrid for their win and the title that they have also won tonight," Guardiola told reporters at full-time. Madrid, under the management of Jose Mourinho, went on to win the La Liga title and Guardiola left the Camp Nou.

CR500

Real Madrid vs Malmo FC, UCL Group stage 2015

Ronaldo scored the first goal of the game in the 29th minute as he finished off a swift Madrid counter-attack with a clinical strike to score his 500th. It took him 654 career appearances to reach the feat.

One of the best bicycle-kick ever

Juventus vs Real Madrid, 2018 UCL Quarter Finals

Cristiano Ronaldo's best goal for Real Madrid and also his favourite came against Juventus, the club he ended up joining a few months later.

Dani Carvajal chipped in a cross from the right but Ronaldo was ahead of the ball; the Portuguese launched himself into the air and connected with an outrageous overhead kick which flew into the left-hand corner of Gianluigi Buffon. Even the Juve fans applauded.

Rising to the occasion

Portugal vs Spain - FIFA World Cup 2018

In Sochi (Russia), Cristiano produced one of the 2018 World Cup’s greatest performances by scoring a hat-trick for Portugal against one of the tournament favourites Spain. What makes it more special is that he had never scored in an Iberian derby before, and he did it on the biggest stage in the football world.

This dramatic free-kick earned his side a 3-3 draw with just minutes remaining in the match.  This match is remembered as one of the best matches in World Cup history. Curling an effort up around the Spanish wall, De Gea was left helpless as the outstanding effort had the net rippling.

Cristiano takes a flight

Juventus 2-1 Sampdoria; Serie A, December 2019

Ronaldo moved to Juventus for a sum of north of £100 million and became the highest paid player in the club's storied history. Critics believed Ronaldo would be a fashion statement and a marketing commodity for Juve. As Christmas of 2019 approached, Ronaldo silenced every single one of the naysayers in a match against Sampdoria.

With the scoreline poised at 1-1, Ronaldo surged into the box with a late run after sensing a cross. What happened next was magic. A month shy of his 35th birthday the Portuguese maestro proved in front of millions that he was still probably the fittest star in the game.

Ronaldo fired himself into the air to meet Alex Sandro's looping cross, reaching a quite ridiculous height of 8.39ft (2.56m) and hanging in the air long enough to get a good look at the ball and power it back across goal, into the top corner.

At the point of making contact, Ronaldo was almost a full torso above all of his fellow jumpers.

Ronaldo crosses 750 career goals

Juventus vs Dynamo Kiev, UCL 2020

Cristiano scored his 750th career goal in Juventus’ 3-0 Champions League win at Dynamo Kiev. He reached the milestone with a tap-in at the far post in the 57th minute for Juve’s second goal of the night.

He scored his 700th career goal in October 2019 and in just over a year, added 50 more. 

Cristiano has numerous records that he keeps on bettering every season. Even after leaving Real Madrid in 2018, he still is the clubs record goalscorer with 450 goals in 438 games. He is also the UEFA Champions league top scorer with a staggering 140 goals.

From his rocket screamers from far ranges at Manchester United to his sublime artistry at Real Madrid, Juventus, and now at Al Nassr, Ronaldo shows age is just a number.