23/04 - 20:00
23/04 - 20:00
Cristiano Ronaldo joined an elite band of footballing hotshots last night when he scored his 700th career goal in Portugal's Euro 2020 qualifier against Ukraine.
Ronaldo becomes the sixth member of a band that previously numbered just five: Bican, Puskas, Pele, Muller and Romario
The 34-year-old Juventus forward scored a penalty as Portugal lost 2-1 in Kiev - his mammoth 700-goal haul spanning 973 matches.
Daei another day
Ronaldo has pushed the bar in terms of hitting the back of the net for club and country, his goal last night his 95th for Portugal; only Iranian Ali Daei in front in the international charts on 109 goals.
The record books (data sourced from a BBC article dated 15 October 2019) show that Ronaldo still has some way to go before he can call himself the most prolific player of all time though - that title currently going to Czech-Austrian Josef Bican, who scored an incredible 805 career goals.
Next on the list is Brazilian legend Romario, who hit the net on 772 occasions, with countryman Pele third on 767.
Hungarian master Ferenc Puskas hit 746 goals, while 'Der Bomber' Gerd Muller makes the cut with 735 goals.
Ronaldo's victims
At international level, Ronaldo's has enjoyed preying upon Andorra, Armenia, Latvia and Sweden - against whom he has scored five goals apiece.
During his club career, the prolific Portuguese has a massive soft spot for Sevilla, who have seen him thwack 27 goals in against them. Atletico Madrid (25), Getafe (23), Celta Vigo (20) and Barcelona (18) haven't fared much better against him.
📈 Players to score 700+ career goals:
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) October 15, 2019
805⚽: Josef Bican
772⚽: Romario
767⚽: Pele
746⚽: Puskas
735⚽: Gerd Müller
700⚽: 🔥RONALDO🔥#CR700 #Ronaldo700 pic.twitter.com/rdXsRU3BB7
2-1 | ||
Roman Yaremchuk 6' Andriy Yarmolenko 27' | Cristiano Ronaldo 72' (pen.) |
