Sports Desk:

Setting lofty targets and successfully achieving them is nothing new to Cristiano Ronaldo. And the Portuguese superstar has once again set himself such a target — that of scoring 1000 career goals.

Ronaldo, who scored the 899th goal of his professional career last Tuesday with his 64th career free-kick for his Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr in a game against Al Fayah, said that he first wants to get to 900 career goals and then reach the elusive mark of 1000.

“Soon I will do 900, and after I will beat 1,000 I want to reach 1,000 goals,” Ronaldo said on his official YouTube channel in an interview with former England national team star Rio Ferdinand.

The Portuguese star, who will turn 40 in February, said he believes he can accomplish the goal by age 41.

Ronaldo, however, also took a light-hearted swipe at legendary players like Pele by mentioning that all his goals have video evidence, ensuring their legitimacy. Pele is often recognised by FIFA to have scored 1281 goals but the number is debated as many of those goals were scored in unofficial friendly games.

“If I [don’t] have injuries, this is, for me, it’s the most important,” Ronaldo said. “I want that. I want that. For me, it’s the best mark that I can have in football, is to reach, first, 900 goals.

“After, my challenge is to beat 1,000 goals, with one difference — all the goals that I score, they have video, so I can prove that.”

Ronaldo also mentioned that he would retire from the game the moment he felt he was not being able to contribute anymore.

“The day that I start to feel that I’m not [producing] nothing, listen, I pack my bags and I go away,” Ronaldo said. “But it’s far from that.”