Cristiano Ronaldo eyes history after setting new goal before retirement

Cristiano Ronaldo has set himself the career objective of scoring 1,000 goals for club and country before he retires.

The Portuguese superstar currently has 899 goals to his name and is getting ready to break the 900-mark during Al-Nassr’s busy September schedule. Never content with his performance and outrageous numbers, the 39-year-old believes he can reach his target in the next two years if he stays fit.

"I want to reach 1,000 goals," Ronaldo told his former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand on his newly launched YouTube channel. "If I don’t have any injuries, this for me is the most important [thing], I want that. For me, the best mark that I can have in football is to reach, first, 900 goals. After, my challenge is to be at 1,000 goals."

Ronaldo’s undeniable star power was underlined recently when the launch of his YouTube channel saw him reach over 50 million subscribers in the fastest-time ever recorded.

He is leaning into video, not only to amplify his stardom, but to act as a point of difference when his career is compared to the likes of Pele and Alfredo Di Stefano, whose credentials as all-time top scorer often came away from the camera.

“All the goals I have scored, they have video,” he said. “They all have video. Listen, I respect all of them [Pele and Di Stefano]. And if you want more goals, I can bring them from training, too. And I will prove to the people after. They prefer this player, or this is the best one. I don’t care about that.”

Ronaldo has no retirement plans in sight and believes he will keep playing as long as he offers something.

“I don’t know when I’m going to finish," he said. “Since you play more, you learn many, many things. One thing that I’ve learned is, enjoy the moment. Because you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. I know I’m still looking good. The day that I start to feel I don’t produce nothing, listen, I’ll pack my bags and I’ll go away. But it’s far from that.”

Ronaldo’s performances at Euro 2024 came under scrutiny. His movement and balance appeared off at such a high pace and he struggled to capitalise on chances provided to him – none more so prevalent than the penalty that led to him crying in Portugal’s eventual win against Slovenia.

Much of Ronaldo’s play during his second stint at Manchester United had a similar feel.

His career-long goalscoring exploits have come from his tremendous pace and power, combined with his constant desire to make things happen on the ball. He has lost some of that, so his move to Al-Nassr in 2022 has certainly helped prolong his ability to consistently hit the back of the net.

In his prime, few would compete with Ronaldo’s ability to win matches from nothing. His career has been one of great goals – from outrageous long-rangers to gravity-defying headers – in his era of dominance alongside Lionel Messi.