Ronaldo on scoring his 900th career goal: 'It was emotional'

Ronaldo on scoring his 900th career goal: ‘It was emotional’

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Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Portugal and Croatia at the Luz stadium in Lisbon, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

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Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, right, celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Portugal and Croatia at the Luz stadium in Lisbon, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

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LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal in Portugal’s Nations League victory over Croatia on Thursday.

The star forward found the net in the 34th minute at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon.

“It means a lot,” Ronaldo said after Portugal’s 2-1 win. “It was a milestone I wanted to reach for a long time. I knew I would reach this number, because as I continue to play, it would happen naturally.”

In the celebration, Ronaldo raised his hands to his face and dropped to his knees.

“It was emotional because it’s a milestone,” he said. “It seems like any other milestone, but only I know, and the people around me, how hard it is to work every day, to be physically and psychologically fit, to score 900 goals. It’s a unique milestone in my career.”

It was the 131st goal of his international career.

The goal put Portugal up 2-0. Croatia later made it 2-1.

He is the first man to reach the 900-goal milestone in official matches for club and country.

Ronaldo plays club soccer for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.

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