Juventus star striker Cristiano Ronaldo is often referred to as the ‘Greatest of All Time’ and there is nothing the man cannot achieve while playing football. Apart from his skills on the field, the striker also enjoys a huge fan following on social media and he recently became the first person to hit 200 million followers on Instagram.
The Portuguese footballer has broken a number of records on and off the field time and again and as the ace striker celebrates his 35th birthday on Wednesday, let’s have a look at some of the records he is expected to break this year-
1) The striker currently has 99 international goals to his name, and with the Euro Cup slated to be played this year, Ronaldo would look to go past 109 goals of Iran’s Ali Daei. If he reaches the feat, he will become the top international scorer of all time.
If Ronaldo manages to reach the top of the goal-scoring charts this year in Serie A, he will become the first player in history to have been top goal-scorer in the English (Premier League), Spanish (La Liga) and Italian (Serie A) leagues.
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2) The 34-year-old had won the Champions League in 2018 after defeating Liverpool and if he manages to win the tournament with Juventus this year, he will equal Francisco Gento’s (Real Madrid) record for winning the tournament for six times.
3) The Portugal striker along with Lionel Messi has scored eight hat-tricks in the Champions League and he would be hoping to extend his lead over Barcelona’s counter-part.
ACHIEVEMENTS TILL DATE-
In his career, Ronaldo has won three Premier League titles, two La Liga titles, one Serie A, five Champions League. The previous year, Ronaldo made waves on social media after he scored a goal for Juventus by recording a giant leap. He launched himself two-and-a-half meters into the air for registering a goal against Sampdoria.
Ronaldo holds the record for scoring the most number of goals in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA European Championship and the FIFA Club World.
He also recorded the most number of goals (17) in a single edition of the Champions League as well as most goals scored in a UEFA Champions League season (17). He has registered 722 goals for club and country combined.
Ronaldo is also the first player to win four European Golden Shoes.
He first made headlines in 2003 after Manchester United signed him on. He received the highest amount for a teenager at that point in time. After Manchester United, Ronaldo went on to represent Real Madrid in La Liga.
Last year, Lionel Messi pipped Ronaldo to win the Ballon d’Or. With this, the Argentine won the award for the sixth time while Ronaldo has won the prestige prize in football five times.
(With ANI inputs)