Cristiano Ronaldo: Portuguese star passes Pele to become 2nd highest goalscorer ever

Cristiano Ronaldo: Portuguese star passes Pele to become 2nd highest goalscorer ever

- Cristiano Ronaldo started 2021 with a brace in Juventus’ 4-1 win over Udinese in the Serie A

- The Portuguese legend has now surpassed Brazilian icon Pele in the all-time scorers’ chart

- Ronaldo has now scored 758 official goals to overtake Pele in second position who had 757

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Cristiano Ronaldo is now the second man with the highest number of goals in football following his brace against Udinese in the Italian Serie A on January 3.

The Juventus striker found the back of the net twice in the highly entertaining fixture which ended 4-1 for the Old Lady.

Both goals ensured Ronaldo overtook legendary Pele in the all-time goal scorers’ chart with the 35-year-old now on 758 while the Brazilian icon had 757 during his famous career between 1956 and 1977 for Santos, New York Cosmos and Brazil.

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CR7 hit his 757th goal when the Old Lady took the lead in the 31st minute against Udinese after Aaron Ramsey picked the pocket of a player and laid the pass for Ronaldo who struck the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-0.

He then then grabbed his brace after Rodrigo Bentancur stole the ball from a Udinese player and put in a first-time pass to the Portuguese who delivered a steady finish to score his 14th to make it his 758th professional goal.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner also got the assist for Federico Chiesa with a sublime pass to make it 2-0 at the Allianz Stadium before Paulo Dybala wrapped up the scoring.

Cristiano Ronaldo: Portuguese star passes Pele to become 2nd highest goalscorer ever
Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored his 758th professional goal. Photo: Mattia Ozbot
Source: Getty Images

According to UK outlet SunSport, he is now just one goal behind Josef Bican's incredible tally of 759 from 1931 to 1955 - so will be looking to move clear as the ultimate No.1 with games against AC Milan and Sassuolo in the next week.

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More than half of Ronaldo's strikes came during his nine years at the Bernabeu.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Juventus might allow Paulo Dybala to leave if he further delays in signing a new contract in the coming days.

The Argentine's current deal with the Old Lady expires in the summer of 2022 and all efforts to get him to extend have failed.

Though the Turin-based club has offered him an improved deal valued around £6.2 million-a-year, yet, the midfielder seems unsatisfied.

And the Italian League champions have decided to end their relationship with the player should the problem persist.

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Babajide Orevba (Sports Editor) Babajide Orevba is a CAF-accredited Nigerian journalist, digital publishing expert, researcher, writer and TV analyst. He has covered several major football tournaments including FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, AFCON, CAF Competitions as well as grassroots competitions within Nigeria. Email: babajide.orevba@corp.legit.ng