CRISTIANO Ronaldo became the first player to score 900 top-level career goals as Portugal kicked off their Nations League campaign with victory over Croatia.
The 39-year-old volleyed in from the edge of the six-yard box in the 34th minute to double Portugal’s lead from Nuno Mendes’ deep cross.
It was a record-extending 131st goal for Portugal, coming 20 years after his first, and the veteran sank to his knees in an emotional celebration.
Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot had put Portugal ahead early on but later turned the ball into his own net as Croatia responded before the break.
As well as Portugal, Ronaldo’s goals have come for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and most recently Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
Portugal are level on points at the top of League A Group 1 after the opening game with Poland, who beat Scotland on Thursday.
Such is Ronaldo’s longevity that if someone was born when he scored the first competitive goal of his career they would now be 21.
He struck a double for Portugal’s Sporting on 7 October 2002, at the age of 17 years eight months and three days in a 3-0 win against Moreirense.
He then moved to Manchester United, scoring 118 goals in 293 games for the Red Devils before joining Real Madrid in 2009 for a then world record 94m euros (£80m).
In nine years at the Spanish giants he scored 450 goals in just 438 games before making the move to Italy to join Juventus.
He added another 101 goals to his tally during his three years with the Italian club before returning to United, where he would score 27 goals in 54 games.
But a return to the Red Devils did not have the fairytale ending and in 2023 he made the move to Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr where he has got 68 goals and counting.
