Cristiano Ronaldo continues to defy time and tradition. The Portuguese superstar has broken a 65-year-old scoring record, previously held by World War II airman and former Arsenal forward Ronnie Rook, after scoring twice in just over a month for Al Nassr.
Ronaldo’s latest milestone came during Al Nassr’s 3-0 Saudi Pro League win over Al Akhdoud, where he struck a clinical brace. The victory also marked Al Nassr’s 10th straight league win, underlining their dominant form this season.
“𝑨𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔,” 𝑹𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒅𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 — 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔.
A third goal was also on the cards, but a potential hat-trick in the 66th minute was ruled out by VAR for offside.
Record Broken After Six Decades of History
Ronaldo has long been rewriting football’s history books, and this achievement further cements his legendary status. Before turning 30 in February 2015, he had scored 463 goals in 718 matches. Since then, he has added 493 more goals, surpassing Ronnie Rook’s long-standing record for goals scored after the age of 30.
According to the Rec.Sport.Soccer.Statistics Foundation (RSSSF), Rook had held the record since retiring in 1961 — a feat untouched for over six decades.
“𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏,” 𝑹𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒅𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅, 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.
Only Romário and Josef Bican have scored more than 400 goals after turning 30, but Ronaldo has now moved clear of all of them.
From WWII Airman to Modern Icon
Ronnie Rook turned 30 in 1941 and played football for another 20 years, balancing his career with service as a Royal Air Force (RAF) airman during World War II. He enjoyed notable spells at Arsenal, Fulham, and Crystal Palace, scoring heavily even during wartime competitions.
Rook finished his career with 493 goals after turning 30, a benchmark that stood firm until Ronaldo’s recent brace finally ended the reign.
Now chasing the elusive 1,000-career-goal milestone, Ronaldo could extend his record further in Al Nassr’s final match of the year against Al Ittifaq next Tuesday.
With history once again behind him, the football world waits to see just how far Cristiano Ronaldo can still go.
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