RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo has described his record-breaking 2023/2024 Roshn Saudi League campaign — in which he netted 35 goals to become the league’s all-time leading striker — as “one of the best seasons” of his career.
The Al-Nassr captain and forward was presented recently with the Top Goalscorer award after his incredible achievement in just 31 games, surpassing Abderrazak Hamdallah’s mark of 34 goals in the 2018/2019 season.
In addition to his goalscoring prowess, the 39-year-old Portuguese legend recorded 11 assists.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner said: “It means a lot. I feel very happy. It’s probably one of the best seasons I’ve ever had in my career in terms of goals but assists too.
“To be honest it means a lot because it’s my work. I have to be honest and say it’s not something I was looking for at the beginning of the season but over time I started to see that it was possible.
“So, I have the opportunity to say thank you to my teammates because without the team nothing individually would have been possible, but I feel very proud to beat the Saudi league record. It’s great for me, I feel happy, and this is my motivation to play football, to train every time and to carry on like that.”
Since joining Al-Nassr in late December 2022, Ronaldo, whose side finished second this season, has scored 49 goals in 47 league appearances, and 64 in 69 games in all competitions.
In the 2023 calendar year, he also netted the most club goals in the world with 54 strikes in 59 appearances. His 2023/2024 strike rate included back-to-back hat tricks against Al-Tai and Abha in the Roshn Saudi League.
Ronaldo’s focus is now on Portugal and the 2024 European Championships in Germany where they face the Czech Republic, Turkiye and Georgia in the group stages. But he is also eagerly awaiting the 2024/2025 Roshn Saudi League season.
Ronaldo said: “I think the goals for each season is the kind of the same, it’s to do your best and win titles. If possible, to collect individual (trophies) as well but my goal is to be the same — to be the same Cristiano that you saw this season, to do my best, to achieve goals with Al-Nassr and with my Portugal national team as well. To maintain my level is what I’m looking for.”
