Pele Celebrates and Congratulates Cristiano Ronaldo for Reaching 100 International Goals Milestone

Cristiano Ronaldo became only the second player ever to score 100 international goals when he scored a free kick in Portugal’s 2-0 win over Sweden in the UEFA Nations League on Wednesday. Ronaldo not only reached the 100-goal mark in international football but surpassed it with another sumptuous strike during the match.

Ronaldo has had to wait very long for the milestone as he reached the 99-goal mark back in November 2019. But when he reached 100th by using his knuckle-ball technique to score a free kick, he did not wait to get another and unleashed a shot from outside the box into the top right corner to remain just seven goals away from matching the record. Iran’s Ali Daei has the most number of international goals, having found the back of the net 108 times.

While it was reason to celebrate for Ronaldo and his fans, one of the greatest footballers to ever play the game, Pele, also took to social media to congratulate the Portuguese on the achievement. Pele himself was a habitual goalscorer and made the world fall in love with the Brazilian way of playing the ‘beautiful game’.

“I thought we were going to celebrate 100 goals today. But it was actually 101! Congratulations @Cristiano, as you reach new heights in your journey,” Pele wrote on Twitter.

Ronaldo did not play Portugal‘s previous match in the Nations League with a toe infection but his team nonetheless crushed Croatia 4-1. The Croatian team was also without their lynchpins Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic.

After reaching the milestone, Ronaldo said he was now eyeing the all-time record. “I managed to beat this milestone of 100 goals and now (I’ll go) for the record. It’s step-by-step. I am not obsessed because I believe the records come in a natural way,” he said.

Ronaldo also once again showed his desire to continue playing for his nation and how much representing his country means to him. “When I had this problem in my toe I always knew that I could recover for this second game. I like to be here, with this group of players, coach, staff and knew that they would play well in the first game as our squad is too good and no one is irreplaceable. The future, only God knows. I am happy to play with these young players and I am enjoying a lot this moment both individually and collectively.”