Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal in Portugal’s home Nations League game against Croatia on Thursday night.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star is the first player to reach this 900-goal milestone in official football matches for both club and country.
Ronaldo made it 2-0 for Portugal at the Estádio da Luz in the 34th minute with a close-range volley from a Nuno Mendes cross. After scoring, he fell to the ground, clearly emotional about reaching this achievement.
At 39 years old, Ronaldo has now scored 131 international goals, 450 for Real Madrid, 145 for Manchester United, 101 for Juventus, 68 for Al Nassr, and five for Sporting Lisbon.
Lionel Messi, who is second on the all-time scorer’s list, has 859 career goals.
“It means a lot,” Ronaldo, who currently plays for Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, said after Portugal’s 2-1 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.”
During the celebration, Ronaldo raised his hands to his face and dropped to his knees.
“It was emotional because it’s a milestone,” he said. “It seems like any other milestone, but only I know, and the people around me, how hard it is to work every day, to be physically and psychologically fit, to score 900 goals. It’s a unique milestone in my career.”
Ronaldo’s goal was the 131st of his international career and gave Portugal a 2-0 lead. Croatia later scored to make it 2-1.
