ROME • Cristiano Ronaldo was hailed as the most prolific professional scorer in the history of football on Wednesday after notching his 760th senior goal to help Juventus beat Napoli 2-0 in the Italian Super Cup.
The title of greatest scorer is much contested, and global governing body Fifa does not keep an official record.
However, multiple media outlets reported that Ronaldo's strike had taken him past Austro-Czech great Josef Bican (759) to top the list.
Brazil legend Pele (757) is third on the all-time list, while Romario (743) and Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi (719) make up the top five.
Bican, Pele and Romario scored over 1,000 goals during their careers but those statistics include strikes in amateur, unofficial and friendly matches.
However, Ronaldo's career tally only includes goals for the four clubs he has played for - Sporting Lisbon (five), Manchester United (118), Real Madrid (450) and Juventus (85) - as well as Portugal (102).
His closest active rival is Argentina captain Messi, who last month scored a single club-record 644th goal for Barca.
On the evergreen 35-year-old, pundit and former England striker Gary Lineker tweeted: "The incredible @Cristiano has scored his 760th career goal tonight, overtaking Josef Bican as the highest goal scorer in the history of football. What an achievement."
Ronaldo is also closing in on Ali Daei's record for the most number of goals scored at international level and at 102, he is just seven strikes behind the Iran great's mark.
But ever the perfectionist, the forward has urged his teammates to use their Super Cup victory to revitalise Juve's stuttering Serie A title defence this season.
The nine-time defending champions are fifth in the table, trailing leaders AC Milan (43) by 10 points with a game in hand, but Ronaldo hopes his side can kick on after securing Andrea Pirlo's first trophy as a coach.
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Average minutes it takes Cristiano Ronaldo to score a goal, after 1,040 games he has played.
After helping the Old Lady win the Super Cup for the ninth time overall - Alvaro Morata was their other scorer in added time - he said: "This trophy is very important because it can give us confidence for the rest of our season.
"The Scudetto is possible, (AC) Milan and Inter (Milan, second on 40 points) are very strong, but there are still a lot of games to be played and we can still do it."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
