Cristiano Ronaldo was hailed as the most prolific professional goalscorer in the history of the game on Wednesday after notching his 760th senior goal to help Juventus beat Napoli 2-0 in the Italian Super Cup.
The title of greatest goalscorer is much contested, and global governing body Fifa does not keep an official record, but several media outlets reported that Ronaldo’s strike had taken him past Austro-Czech Josef Bican to the top of the list.
Bican, as well as Brazilian strikers Pele and Romario, scored in excess of 1,000 goals during their careers but those statistics include strikes in amateur, unofficial and friendly matches.
Ronaldo’s career tally includes goals for four top-flight clubs and Portugal with his closest active rival being Argentine Lionel Messi, who last month scored a single club record 644th goal for Barcelona.
Ronaldo recently moved past Brazil legend Pele (757) — who moves down to third on the all-time list — while Romario is fourth (743) and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi makes up the top five (719).
The 35-year-old Ronaldo, who is the leading goalscorer for his country with 102 goals, previously played for Sporting Lisbon (five goals), Manchester United (118) and Real Madrid (450). He has scored 85 goals for Juventus.
His most prolific scoring year came in 2013 when he found the back of the net 69 times, but he also recorded 34 in 2007, 35 in 2008, 30 in 2009, 48 in 2010, 60 in 2011, 63 in 2012, 61 in 2014, 57 in 2015, 55 in 2016 and 53 in 2017.
The five-time Champions League winner’s most prolific scoring season, though, was in 2011-12 — with 69 goals overall. Ronaldo, meanwhile, said Wednesday’s win can help revitalise the champions’ stuttering Serie A title defence this season. He scored the first in the 64th minute and Alvaro Morata’s injury-time goal sealed the match in favour of Andrea Pirlo’s men. This was also Pirlo’s first trophy as Juventus.
Zidane not perturbed
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said his side would not lose their heads after being dumped out of the Copa del Rey by third division Alcoyano on Wednesday, also dismissing suggestions the 2-1 defeat had caused his side great embarrassment.
“It’s not an embarrassment, it’s something that can always happen in football,” the Frenchman said. “Something like this can happen in a footballer’s career but I take responsibility for it and we’ll keep on working. We’re not going to go crazy over this.”
