Cristiano Ronaldo: ‘I will only stop after scoring 1,000 goals.’

Milan, 29 Dec. (LaPresse) – Cristiano Ronaldo has expressed his determination to score 1,000 goals by the end of his career. And the 40-year-old Portuguese superstar has no doubt he will succeed. ‘I will definitely reach that milestone, if there are no injuries,’ Ronaldo said on Sunday evening at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, where he was named the best player in the Middle East. Ronaldo reached 956 career goals by scoring twice for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday. His tally includes a men’s international record of 143 goals for Portugal, which Ronaldo will lead at next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. At the start of the World Cup, Ronaldo, a five-time winner of the world’s best player award, will be 41. ‘I’m still very motivated to continue,’ the former Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus striker said on stage after receiving the award. ‘It doesn’t matter where I play – in the Middle East, in Europe – I always enjoy playing football, winning trophies, scoring goals and I want to continue like this.’ ‘You know what my goal is: I want to win more trophies and I want to reach the number that you all know,’ he said, referring to the historic milestone of 1,000 career goals, surpassed so far only by Pelé. The World Cup is one of the few trophies missing from Ronaldo’s collection, while he won the European Championship with Portugal in 2016.