Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal© AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo might be 39 years old but there still isn't a ray of doubt in his head that he is the best in the world, in fact, the best in history. After scoring his 900th career goal, in Portugal's 2-1 win against Croatia in the UEFA Nations League, Ronaldo once again chose to remind everyone of his achievements in the game. Though the Portuguese striker hasn't won the FIFA World Cup yet, he remains of the opinion that winning the UEFA Euro with Portugal is equivalent to the global quadrennial event.
"Portugal winning the Euros is the equivalent of winning the World Cup," Ronaldo told RPT3 after helping his team beat Croatia, with 900th career goal. "I've already won two trophies for Portugal that I really wanted, so I'm not motivated by that [World Cup]."
"900 goals seems like any other milestone, but only I know how hard it is to work every day to score your 900th goal. It's a unique milestone in my career. I don't break records they haunt me!," he further said after the match, reflecting on his historic achievement.
Ronaldo's sentiments on Euros vs World Cup do match France's Kylian Mbappe who recently joined the Portuguese's former side Real Madrid.
"For me, [the Euros are] more complicated than a World Cup," Mbappe said. "Even though there's more pressure at the World Cup, we know all the teams in the Euros, and it's tactically similar."
The comments from Ronaldo seem to be a sly dig at Messi who has won the FIFA World Cup with Argentina, in 2022. The statement is bound to trigger Messi fans.
"The Euros are important, but he [Mbappe] leaves out Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay -- all World Cup winners. In the World Cup, you have the best teams in the world. That's why everyone dreams of being world champion," said Messi had said on Mbappe's comments.
At present, Ronaldo sits on the top of the charts when it comes to players with the most number of goals in professional football. Aside from his 137 goals for Portugal, Ronaldo has done wonders for all of his club sides over the years. He has representing Sporting Lisbon (5 goals), Manchester United (145 goals), Real Madrid (450 goals), Juventus (101 goals) and Al-Nassr (68 goals) to reach the goalscoring pinnacle.