Cristiano Ronaldo's bittersweet moment at Juventus 1:47
(CNN Spanish) -
Pelé congratulated Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese passed the scoring mark of the Brazilian legend in official matches.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick on Sunday for Juventus' 3-1 win over Cagliari, reaching 770 official career goals, three more than Pelé.
At 36, the Juve star turned to Instagram to recognize his achievement, prompting Pelé to react.
The Brazilian told Cristiano on Instagram: «Life is a solo flight.
Each one marks his way.
And what a beautiful path you are traveling.
«I admire you a lot, I love watching you play and this is not a secret for anyone.
Congratulations on breaking my record in official matches.
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My only regret is not being able to hug you today.
But I leave this photo in your honor, with great affection, as a symbol of a friendship that has existed for many years.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the Portuguese team's top scorer with 102 goals.
He made his debut with Sporting Lisbon (5 goals), then went through Manchester United (118 goals) and Real Madrid (450 goals), and now he scored 95 goals with Juventus.
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A post shared by Pelé (@pele)
However, there is still a controversy about whether Cristiano is the top scorer of all time.
Who is the all-time top scorer?
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF), an international organization dedicated to collecting football statistics, still considers Austro-Czech Josef Bican to be the all-time top scorer with 805 goals.
However, the agency clarifies that some of those goals were scored in amateur matches, reserve matches and in unofficial international games.
Adjusting his scoring account, multiple reports indicate that Bican's total is 759 goals.
For its part, FIFA does not have an official ranking, but credits Bican, who died in 2001, with an estimate of 805 goals during his career, from 1931 to 1955.
There's also the Guinness Book of World Records, which has Pelé with 1,279 career goals, but the authenticity of his scoring quota is questioned because many of those goals were scored in unofficial matches.
Cristiano Ronaldo revealed what his goal is in goals and explained why he now admits having surpassed Pele's record.
The Portuguese wrote on Instagram: «My eternal and unconditional admiration for Mr. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, and the respect I have for football in the middle of the last century, led me to recognize his 767-goal count, considering his nine goals for the São Paulo state team, as well as his goal for the Brazilian military team, as official goals ».
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A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)
It should be noted that Lionel Messi, at 33, has 40 fewer goals than Cristiano Ronaldo but is younger and has played fewer games.
Matias Grez contributed to this report.
Brazil Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus Pele
