Cristiano Ronaldo was hailed as the most prolific goalscorer in history on Wednesday after scoring his 760th senior goal to help Juventus beat Napoli 2-0 in the Italian Supercup final.
Though the title is contested, with world governing body Fifa not keeping an official record, several media outlets reported that Ronaldo's strike had taken him past Austro-Czech Josef Bican to the top of the list.
Bican, as well as Brazilian strikers Pele and Romario, scored in excess of 1,000 goals during their careers but those statistics include strikes in amateur, unofficial and friendly matches and have proved hard to verify.
Ronaldo's career tally includes goals for four top-flight clubs and his national team Portugal. To put his tally into context, Lionel Messi, Ronaldo's great rival, last month scored a single club record 644th goal for Barcelona to tie with Pele's tally for Brazilian club Santos. Messi has added afour more clubs goals since, and also has 71 goals for Argentina for a total of 719 goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo through the ages 🤩 pic.twitter.com/vmXbCXKV17
— Goal (@goal) January 20, 2021
Ronaldo, 35, who is the leading goalscorer for his country with 102 goals, previously played for Sporting Lisbon (five goals), Manchester United (118) and Real Madrid (450). He has scored 85 goals for Juventus since joining the Turin giants in 2018.
"The incredible @Cristiano has scored his 760th career goal tonight, overtaking Josef Bican as the highest goal scorer in the history of football. What an achievement," former England striker Gary Lineker posted on Twitter.
The incredible @Cristiano has scored his 760th career goal tonight, overtaking Josef Bican as the highest goal scorer in the history of football. What an achievement. 👏🏻👏🏻
— Gary Lineker 💙 (@GaryLineker) January 20, 2021
Goals from Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata earned Juventus a 2-0 win on Wednesday, securing Andrea Pirlo his first trophy as Juve coach after taking charge in August.
In Serie A, things have not gone to plan for Juventus, with Pirlo's side sitting fifth in the standings on 33 points, 10 behind leaders AC Milan, but Ronaldo believes their Supercup success means more than just securing a trophy.
"It was a difficult match on a pitch that was not the best," Ronaldo told Rai Sport. "We won an important cup that can also improve our confidence.
"We had to have a different attitude than what we had seen against Inter [Milan in Juve's Serie A defeat on Sunday], a match we did not do well in.
"Milan and Inter are very strong, but there is a long way still to go. We can still win the Scudetto. It will be a long race, but it's possible."
