World football icon, Pele has acknowledged Cristiano Ronaldo for becoming the player with more official career goals than any player in the history of the game.
On March 14, 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo scored one of his earliest hat-tricks in his football career in a Serie A match against Cagliari. He scored the three goals in the first half of the game.
The first goal came in the 10th minute. The 5-time Ballon d’Or winner scored his second goal from the penalty spot in the 25th minute. Ronaldo made it three for Juventus in the 32nd minute.
After the game, Pele, who is one of the most respected Brazilian retired footballers in the world took to his verified Instagram account to congratulate Ronaldo for breaking his all-time goalscoring record.
Before Pele retired from professional football, it is believed that he scored a total number of 767 official goals which was the highest amount of goals any footballer has ever scored in the history of the game.
On Sunday, March 14, 2021, Ronaldo ended the reign of Pele’s goalscoring record with his hat-trick against Cagliari which took his total official career goals to 770. This means that the Portuguese football icon has scored three goals more than Pele.
“Life is a solo flight. Each makes his journey. And what a beautiful journey you are having. I admire you a lot, I love watching you play and this is no secret to anyone. Congratulations on breaking my record of goals in official matches,” Pele posted on Instagram.
In his reaction, Cristiana Ronaldo took to his Instagram account after his hat-trick on Sunday to share a post in which he acknowledged the greatness of Pele and to celebrate his new feat.
He wrote: “The last few weeks were filled with news and stats considering me the world’s top scorer in football history, overcoming Pele’s 757 official goals,” he said. “Although I’m thankful for that recognition, now it’s time for me to explain why I didn’t acknowledge that record until this moment.
“My everlasting and unconditional admiration for mister Edson Arantes do Nascimento [Pele], such as the respect that I have for mid-20th century football, led me to take into account his 767 scores, assuming his nine goals for Sao Paulo State Team, as well as his single goal for the Brazilian Military Team, as official goals. The world has changed since then and football has changed as well, but this doesn’t mean that we can just erase history according to our interests.
“Today, as I reach the 770th official goal in my professional career, my first words go straight to Pele. No player in the world hasn’t been raised listening to stories about his games, his goals, and his achievements, and I’m no exception. And for that reason, I’m filled with joy and pride as I acknowledge the goal that puts me on top of the world’s goalscoring list, overcoming Pele’s record, something that I could never have dreamed of while growing up as a child from Madeira.”
