Football Legend, Pele Hails Ronaldo For Overtaking His Landmark

Football Legend, Pele Hails Ronaldo For Overtaking His Landmark

Brazil great Pele said he was happy to see Cristiano Ronaldo overtake his mark for international goals last week, but believes the Real Madrid superstar is not quite in his league yet.

Ronaldo netted a treble for Portugal in a 5-1 drubbing of minnows the Faroe Islands in World Cup qualifying on Thursday night to take his international tally to 78, one ahead of the legendary Pele’s mark for Brazil.

The first of those goals, after barely two minutes, was a spectacular overhead kick that drew applause from fans around the world.

“I saw the goal, It was really special,” Pele told Goal in a recent interview. “It was a really nice play.”

Ronaldo, who led Portugal to European championship success in 2016, now has 78 goals in 145 international games while the great Pele’s 77 Brazil goals came after just 92 appearances – including three World Cups for his country (in 1958, 1962 and 1970).

And the former Santos striker says though the times are different, Ronaldo still has to match his total goals tally before they can be compared.

“Of course, these are different times,” Pele said. “But the beautiful thing about football is the goals. And I take this opportunity to send a big greeting to Cristiano Ronaldo for that victory.

“Now he has to score more than 1,283 goals!”