Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, widely referred to as CR7 was born on 5th February 1985 in Portugal. José Dinis Aveiro, Ronaldo’s father worked as an equipment manager at the local club of Andorinha. A formidable player on the pitch, Ronaldo was originally a Right-Winger (RW) and gradually evolved into a forward adopting a free-reigned attacking style.
He left his opponents spellbound with a sleight of the foot that made sufficient space for openings in opposing defences. Ronaldo kickstarted his senior club career playing forward for Sporting CP prior to signing with one of Europe’s biggest football club Manchester United in 2003 at the age of 18 and won the FA cup in the first season. He had a magnificent season in United in 2007-2008 where he chalked up 42 League and Cup goals. Adding to this, he was the recipient of the Golden Shoe award as Europe’s Leading goalscorer having scored 31 League goals under his belt.
With five Ballon d’Or awards and four European Golden Boots, CR7 is indisputably considered as one of the greatest players of all time. The reason we stuck to the “7” most intriguing facts about Ronaldo out of the zillion commendable accomplishments unlocked by the legend, is to commemorate his achievements and to honour his jersey number.
With any further ado, let us jump into the stats:
1. 115 International Goals
We all know that Ronaldo is the highest goal scorer at the Men’s International level, so what makes this fact so incredible? Yes, you guessed it right, it is “the number of goals”. Over the last 105 years, there have been less than 70 men who have scored 50 goals for their country and most of those players belong to earlier generations.
Out of the list, there are only 16 who are currently playing and out of the 16, only Cristiano has garnered over 100 goals. The Indian star, Sunil Chhetri and Argentina’s Lionel Messi have scored 80 each. Look closer and observe the difference between Ronaldo and the rest. The high margin says it all.
There is a neverending debate on how good UEFA is, compared to other organisations. So, if we take into consideration, only UEFA players, there are merely 4 players apart from Ronaldo, who have surpassed 50 goals, viz. Edin Džeko (60), Zlatan Ibrahimović (62), Romelu Lukaku (68), Robert Lewandowski (72). The astounding fact is that Ronaldo has scored 43 more goals compared to any other current European player at the International Level.
2. Better Goal Per Game Ratio After Turning 30
No human is ignorant to the fact that Ronaldo adheres to a very stringent workout routine which is primarily the reason why he is ageing like a fine wine. If we consider the number of goals scored by Ronaldo after turning 30, he is the 10th best active goal scorer in the world and stands just ahead of Romelu Lukaku.
His goal per game ratio became unimaginably better after turning 30 years of age. He scored 463 goals in 718 matches prior to turning 30 which is approximately 0.64 goals per game. His goal scoring ratio ahead of 30 years has been consistent at 0.94 per game. The difference in the number speaks volumes.
3. All-Time Leading Goal Scorer of the Portugal Men’s Team
Portugal has invariably developed some of the finest players in the history of football – Luís Figo, Rui Costa, Edin Džeko to name a few. In addition to these, two other players occupy the place in the Top 3 Alltime scorers for Portugal Men’s Team. They are legendary PSG striker, Pedro Pauleta, before, Zlatan Ibrahimović hit the refresh button on PSG’s history and Eusébio, Africa’s first great footballer with mind-boggling stats, the first player to earnt the European Golden Boot in 1968 and replicate the feat again in 1973. Pauleta scored 47 goals for his country and Eusébio bagged 41. Ronaldo has scored 115, which is more than double the number of goals of any other Portuguese player.
Two consecutive FIFA Youth Championships were conducted in 1989 and 1991 which featured legendary footballers like Luís Figo, Rui Costa, Fernando Couto, Nunu Gomes and Pedro Pauleta. Pauleta was undeniably a great striker but it is also a fact that he was surrounded by a spectacular team which was not the case for Ronaldo, although he did manage to get hold of the tail end of the first one in Euro Cup 2004 and the World Cup in 2006. Cristiano led the team which did have some of the finest players like Nani, Džeko, Carvalho, etc. but the form of the team had drastically deteriorated.
4. Scored At Every Minute
A handful of players have scored 90 professional goals and fewer people have scored at least one goal in every minute of the match. In today’s era, there are three such players and of them is, of course, Ronaldo. Messi surprisingly does not make it to the list. Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimović and very recently, Luis Suárez are a part of this list.
5. Single Season Goal Record Holder For Juventus
Ronaldo occupied first place for the player with maximum goals for Juventus in a single season. To the amazement of many, Ronaldo first broke the record of Felice Placido Borel II with 37 goals in the first season and then tied the old score with 36 goals in the next season. The closest anyone could get to Borel II was 32 goals which were recently scored by Gonzalo Higuain in 2017.
The feat becomes all the more astounding when you count in the fact that he only spent 3 years at The Old Lady.
6. 44th Place If He Were His Own Club
Take a look at the list. Confused? Let us help you steer clear of the confusion. The names mentioned in the list are not players. Ronaldo has succeeded in scoring 50 additional UCL goals than Napoli (played for over 59 years) in their entire UCL history. He would rank 44th had he been his own club. Well, not just Napoli, he has scored goals more than S.S.Lazio (played for over 77 years), Sevilla (played for over 64 years) and Tottenham (played for over 12 years) and his first club, Sporting Lisbon (played for over 66 years).
Awestruck? So are we.
7. SPEED
The lucky number 7! Ronaldo was fast when he was young, however, it is bewildering to see how fast he is even till today. Ronaldo was recorded running at 20.2 mph at his return debut in Manchester United. There is no denying that mobility has reduced considerably, so have his presses. But, we have to admit that he rarely disappoints his fans and makes the right moves when the situation calls for it.
The fact that the man still continues to put his best foot forward despite turning 37 is worth appreciation. Brazilian legends like Ronaldinho, Kaká, Ronaldo Luís Nazário retired before 37 years of age. Even PSG’s Neymar (30 years) has hinted at retiring before the 2026 World Cup.
So, all said and done, Kudos to CR7 for bracing himself even as he turns 37. The legend surely is worthy of all the respect he has earned.