Cristiano Ronaldo Al-Nassr
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is 35 years old right now but still, he has every plan to overtake the goals tally of the legendary Pele, according to Gary Neville.

Cristiano Ronaldo has so far scored 626 goals throughout his professional career and while talking about his former Manchester United teammate, Neville has admitted the Portuguese will stop at nothing to overtake the Brazilian legend.

“His drive to become the best in the world was out of this world,” Neville told Sky Sports.

“He was one of the few players that I’ve played with that would publicly announce that individual trophies were important to him. He just wanted to be the very best and what he’s done over the years has been absolutely exceptional. His achievements have been amazing and he’s worked hard for it.

“It’s an obsession with scoring goals and applying himself every day, being the fittest he can possibly be. I think he’s lifted his professionalism every single year and progressed.

“I think he has a plan to go on and take over Pele’s record. He wants to be the greatest of all time and that is his sole purpose.

“Understanding that along the way if he is the greatest of all time, the teams that he plays for will win trophies and be successful.”

Will Cristiano Ronaldo be able to overtake Pele?

Cristiano Ronaldo has 626 goals but Pele’s said to have scored over 1000 career goals to his name. So clearly, the Portuguese will have to be on goal-scoring steroids for the rest of his professional career if he wants to reach anywhere close to the Black Pearl.

The first phase of his career with Manchester United saw him score only 84 goals from a 196 Premier League matches but ever since he moved out of England, CR7 has been a totally transformed player. In the La Liga, he took centre-stage for Real Madrid scoring 311 goals in 292 league matches and he seems to have carried that form into the Italian league as well.

Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Portugal

Ronaldo is without a doubt in the final few years of his career in Europe and there’s a big chance he could be heading to the MLS by the end of the 2020-21 season. And while most European players think they can be a top player in America but things turn out to be quite different once they start playing in the US of A.

But no matter how his story ends, Cristiano Ronaldo will always be remembered as one of the best footballers to have ever graced the playing field.

And just to serve as a reminder of how great his journey has been, here’s a list of his personal accolades:

FIFA Ballon d’Or/Ballon d’Or: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017
FIFA World Player of the Year: 2008
FIFPro World Player of the Year: 2008
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: 2016, 2017
UEFA Best Player in Europe Award: 2014, 2016, 2017
UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2007–08
UEFA Club Forward of the Year: 2007–08
FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year: 2003–04, 2004–05
PFA Portuguese Player of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
European Golden Shoe: 2007–08, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2014–15
FIFA Puskás Award: 2009
FIFA FIFPro World11: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
UEFA Team of the Year: 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2004, 2012, 2016
UEFA European Championship Silver Boot: 2016
UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2017)
UEFA Nations League Finals Team of the Tournament: 2019
FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2018
FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2016
FIFA Club World Cup Silver Ball: 2008, 2014, 2017
PFA Young Player of the Year: 2006–07
PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2006–07, 2007–08
Premier League Player of the Season: 2006–07, 2007–08
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2006–07, 2007–08
PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
Premier League Golden Boot: 2007–08
La Liga Best Player: 2013–14
La Liga Best Forward: 2013–14
La Liga Most Valuable Player: 2012–13
La Liga Team of the Season: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16
UEFA La Liga Team of The Season: 2015–16, 2016–17
BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year: 2014
Serie A Most Valuable Player: 2018–19
Serie A Footballer of the Year: 2019
Serie A Team of the Year: 2018–19

Stats via TransferMarkt and Wikipedia.

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