Portugal vs Croatia: The stats behind Cristiano Ronaldo's record-breaking night
Portugal's eventual 2-1 win over Croatia was cause for celebration. Pepe was honoured ahead of kick off with a commemorative 141 shirt following his international retirement upon their elimination from Euro 2024 as fans displayed a Tifo to celebrate the career of the 41-year-old at Benfica's Estadio da Luz. However, post-match, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who again stole the headlines.
While much was made of Ronaldo's crying following his penalty miss at the Euros, his were tears of joy against Croatia as the Portugal captain netted his 900th career goal in the 34th minute of the UEFA Nations League triumph. Ronaldo's strike in the win over Croatia was his 131st for his country as Roberto Martinez's men edged out a narrow victory in Lisbon on Thursday night.
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The historic goal came from the second of his four shots against Croatia, with Dominik Livakovic unable to deny the 39-year-old from close range having been picked out superbly by left-back Nuno Mendes. Cue jubilation in the Portuguese capital as Ronaldo sunk to his knees and broke down in tears at the corner flag.
Not only was Ronaldo a goal threat on the night, but he linked up play well with his teammates, returning a 95.8% pass success rate from his 24 passes, while he was unfortunate not to land an assist having made three key passes. All in all, it was enough for Ronaldo to claim the Player of the Match award with a WhoScored rating of 7.52.
Breaking down the career goals, exactly 50% of those came at Real Madrid, with the experienced striker hitting the back of the net 450 times during his time in the Spanish capital. Ronaldo scored 145 times at Manchester United, netted 101 goals at Juventus, five goals for Sporting CP, and so far has struck 68 times for Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr.
Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 900th career goal to double Portugal’s lead against Croatia! 😮#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/mDaS69BlpF
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 5, 2024
Even at his age, Ronaldo shows no desire to wind down his career. "I want to reach 1000 goals," Ronaldo told former United teammate Rio Ferdinand in a post-match interview on his official YouTube channel. Brazil legends Pele and Romario have each claimed to have reached the milestone, though both were including friendlies in their overall figure.
Time may not be on Ronaldo's side as he seeks to score another 100 career goals but he has already written his name into the history books on a number of occasions in what has been a glittering career.
