NEW DELHI: In a remarkable 2023, the legendary footballer
Cristiano Ronaldo
concluded the year as the world's leading goal-scorer. Following this milestone, the Portuguese superstar expressed his intention to strive for a similar achievement in the coming year.
Throughout 2023, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner netted an impressive 54 goals for both his national team and his current club,
Al Nassr
.
English striker
Harry Kane
secured the second spot with 52 goals for both his national team and his newly joined club, Bayern Munich.
PSG's French attacker
Kylian Mbappe
also notched up 52 goals, while City's Norwegian striker
Erling Haaland
found himself with 50 goals.
While speaking to the Saudi media outlet SSC Sports, Ronaldo said that he was very happy to achieve the milestone and help his club and country.
"I'm very happy, it was a good year for me as an individual and as a collective. I scored so many goals, I helped the team a lot at Al-Nassr and for the national team. I feel good, I feel happy and next year I will try to do it again," Ronaldo was quoted by Goal.com as saying.
Ronaldo, widely regarded as one of the premier footballers globally, has established several records that are deemed difficult to surpass.
The recipient of the Ballon d'Or on five occasions, Ronaldo made a significant move to the Saudi club Al Nassr in January 2023. Since then, he has participated in 50 matches for his new team, achieving an impressive tally of 44 goals.
In the ongoing season of the Saudi Pro League, the Portuguese has appeared in 18 matches for the Riyadh-based club and scored 20 goals. Ronaldo also made nine assists in the 2023-24 season for Al Nassr.
Earlier, the Portuguese superstar returned to his boyhood club Manchester United in 2021 after leaving Juventus, however, his stint in the English club did not last very long after he lambasted the United coach Erik Ten Hag in a controversial interview with Piers Morgan.
After Ronaldo claimed that Ten Hag did not respect the Portuguese player, United terminated the 38-year-old's contract. In his second run at United, CR7 played 54 matches and scored 27 goals.
(With ANI Inputs)
English (US) ·