He reached that landmark figure with the second goal in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Croatia in the Nations League on Thursday.

Never one to stand still, Ronaldo has already expressed a desire to reach the 1000-goal mark before he finally retires.

For many, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star is the greatest player in history.

He has won five Ballon d’Or trophies, bettered only by his great rival Lionel Messi – who has won football’s top individual prize a record eight times.

Speaking back in 2022, Piers Morgan said Ronaldo had told him during a private conversation that Messi was the greatest player he had witnessed – although stopped short of admitting the Argentine was better than himself.

“I had a very interesting conversation with Cristiano, we had dinner after I first interviewed him three years ago, it was a really great conversation and I really like him as a person,” Morgan said on talkSPORT.

“He was incredibly respectful about Messi and I said to him, ‘Who’s the best player you’ve ever seen?’

“He said, ‘Messi, but you’re asking the wrong question, you’re not asking me who is the best player…’, because, of course, he has never seen himself play live.

“So, that made me laugh….CONTINUE READING

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“But then he talked about the pair of them and the difference between them and a lot of the other greats, like R9 Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, George Best, Paul Gascoigne, he said the difference is the longevity he and Messi have had.