Cristiano Ronaldo knows where the back of the net is and then some.
Whether it be for Manchester United, Real Madrid or Portugal, the 32-year-old is about as prolific as it gets. With over 500 goals to his name in 15 years in the game, there can be no denying his unbelievable talent and electric finishing.
That eye for goal doesn’t diminish when you remove Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale, though. While finding a regular supply may be more difficult in the colours of Portugal, it hasn’t stopped CR7 recently.
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In fact, the 32-year-old has made history with his national side tonight. In scoring in their international friendly with Sweden, the Real Madrid star brought his tally up to 71 goals.
From a team perspective, the strike came in vein with Sweden running away 3-2 victors in Funchal. A brace from Viktor Claesson and a stoppage time own goal from Joao Cancelo saw the Swedes rally from 2-0 down.
For Ronaldo though, a moment of history. His 71st strike moved him into the top 10 international goal scorers of all time or joint eighth to be exact.
The players in and around him, however, are not who you’d expect. In fact, if Ronaldo is to move his way to the top of the pile then he’ll have some obscure and exotic rivals to sift out of his way.
Don’t get too ahead of yourself Cristiano, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do:
=8. Miroslav Klose (71)
Starting in familiar territory, it’s the World Cup’s all time top scorer and the only German to have outscored Gerd Muller in Die Mannschaft’s jersey. The 38-year-old was a lethal penalty box poacher and retired last year after five seasons with Lazio.
=8. Kiatisuk Senamuang (71)
For a player that never left his native Thailand, Senamuang had quite the career. The 43-year-old scored an astonishing 111 goals in 75 appearances for Hoang Anh Gia Lai and now manages the national team he amassed 71 strikes for.
=8. Majed Abdullah (71)
‘The Arabian Jewel’ won the Asian Footballer of the Year Award three times during the 1980s and won the Saudi golden boot on six separate occasions. His official goal tally for Saudi Arabia continues to be a topic of a debate with 71 proving the conservative and most readily accepted estimate.
=8. Kinnah Phiri (71)
As far as Malawian goal scorers go, Phiri is about as good as it gets and seemingly as good as it well ever get. The 62-year-old was prolific during his 115 caps for his country and recently coached the Free State Stars.
7. Bashar Abdullah (75)
Yet another unknown forward but yet another who knew how to do it on the international stage. Far and away Kuwait’s greatest ever player, Abdullah scored on a regular basis deep into 2007 and bowed out with a consolation goal against Uzbekistan.
6. Pele (77)
At long last, someone we know. The Brazilian is considered one of the greatest footballers to walk the earth and has no less than three World Cup titles to his name. Pele made football an art and while five internationals scored more than him, they couldn’t match him for skill and talent if they tried.
5. Hussein Saeed (78)
Considering the current state of affairs in Iraq, it’s hard to imagine one of their own outscoring Pele but that’s exactly the case. Between 1978 and 1990, Saeed was prolific in front of goal and a shining light in a time of turmoil.
4. Godfrey Chitalu (79)
The 45-year-old never left Zambia during his 20-year career and it was for his country that he shone the most. 108 caps proved ample game time during which to amass an astonishing goal tally for a country that has since won the African Cup of Nations in the last five years.
3. Kunishige Kamamoto (80)
Leicester City’s very own Shinji Okazaki reached 50 international goals this week, yet he has a long way to match the tally of Kamamoto. The forward spent his entire career at Yanmar Diesel and has endured a poor spell in management that has completely stalled since 2009.
2. Ferenc Puskas (84)
What an incredible player, no doubt about it. The Real Madrid legend came a whisker away from the World Cup in 1954 and was instrumental in the famous 6-3 Hungarian victory at Wembley. His team mate and strike partner, Sandor Kocsis, narrowly misses out on a place on the list as well.
1. Ali Daei (109)
Ronaldo may be able to usurp Puskas, but it’s difficult to see the Portuguese reaching the dizzying heights of this Iranian legend. Over the course of an astonishing 149 caps, Daei broke all sorts of records by scoring over a century of goals for his country. Incredible stuff.
So enjoy your moment of history Ronaldo, but not being top dog in this particular list might prove a recurring theme. As far as Ballon d’Ors are concerned, though, the 32-year-old is sitting pretty.
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