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Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest football players of all time. He is a living legend with achievements that most of his peers could only dream of. In the course of his near 17-year career, he has done and seen it all in the football field. For the vast majority of that time, he has enjoyed success like no other. From a humble upbringing in Madeira, Portugal he has shown the world that hard work and determination is key in excelling.
His breakthrough came in 2003 when he signed for Manchester United where he was handed the famous number seven jersey. This seemed like a huge burden to place on an untested teenager who had a bag of tricks in his locker. Seven seasons later, he would leave United having been an integral part of three Premier League titles and one Champions League.
His exploits at United were already commendable. This set a course for him that would change his status from a great player to a legend. His game evolved from a tricky winger with speed to a proper goal machine after he made his move to Real Madrid. At 6 ft 2, Ronaldo is one of the best in the air and is also lethal when using either foot. He consistently performed at the highest level and that inevitably produced records that will be here to stay for a while.
#3 50+ goals streaks
Ronaldo and career rival Lionel Messi are the only current players to have consistently enjoyed more than 50 goals in a season. Ronaldo's goalscoring pedigree has earned him several awards and records. He is the only player to score 50 goals or more in six consecutive seasons. Between 2011 and 2014, he became the only player in history to have scored 60 goals or more consecutively.
To add to that, Ronaldo holds the record as the only player to score 60 or more goals in seven consecutive calendar years. These are certainly no mean feats by a man who played in one of European football's top five leagues. To achieve that in consecutive years is even more impressive. He certainly left Real Madrid with a mark that would take someone really special to emulate or come close to.
#2 Highest goalscorer in Europe
Ronaldo is currently the highest capped player for Portugal. He was named the national team captain in 2008 at just 23 years of age. Ronaldo has represented Portugal at every major tournament since Euro 2004 when they shockingly lost on home soil to Greece. He has been a true servant of his country. Despite his achievements, he craved to win a major tournament with Portugal. That came to fruition in 2016 at the European Championship when he watched from the sidelines as Portugal pipped hosts France to the title.
As a proven goal scorer, he became Portugal's all-time record goalscorer on March 5, 2014, after scoring two goals in a 5-1 win over Cameroon. Since his then tally of 49 goals, he went on to add to his impressive tally. In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he scored Portugal's opening goal against Spain. As a result, he became the first Portuguese player to score in four consecutive World Cups. In their second game against Morocco, he thumped in a header as Portugal emerged 1--0 winners. In the process, he became the highest European goalscorer of all-time with 85 goals.
#1 Highest goalscorer at Real Madrid
It is when he moved to Spain that Ronaldo became at the peak of his powers. At Real Madrid, he tore apart record after record as the Spanish giants wrestled back some dominance from rivals Barcelona. Ronaldo became the fastest player to score 150 league goals in Spain. It took him only 140 matches to do so.
Ronaldo also took down a record that stood for many years. He scored a whopping 311 league goals for Madrid. At the end of his nine seasons in Spain, he was their all-time top scorer with 451 goals. He truly gave the world a spectacle at Madrid with each season. These are achievements that may not be matched in a long time.
It would take a once in a generation type of player such as Ronaldo to reach them. At 33, he is still going strong at Juventus and showing the desire to continue winning. At the end of the day, all football supporters can attest to seeing a legend play before their very eyes.
