“Most shameless athlete in history”, “An insufferable human being” - Fans react as Cristiano Ronaldo appears to aim dig at Pele in new interview

Fans have reacted to Cristiano Ronaldo taking an alleged dig at Brazilian legend Pele's goal-scoring record in his latest interview with Rio Ferdinand on his YouTube channel.

Ferdinand and Ronaldo were discussing the latter's next career goals. Ronaldo boldly claimed he would love to reach the 1,000-goal mark but added that all his goals have video footage so he can prove their legitimacy. He said (via UR Cristiano):

"For me, the best milestone that one can reach in football is to reach first at 900 goals. After that, my challenge is to be 1,000 goals - with one difference. All the goals that I score, they have videos so I can prove. They all have videos. And if you want more goals, I can bring from the training too. So there's no problem."

Many fans considered Ronaldo's statement an alleged dig at Pele. The Brazilian legend created a Guinness World Record by scoring 1,279 goals in 1,363 games. However, many question the accuracy of the figures due to a lack of video evidence to prove the same.

Pele was active between 1956 and 1977, when all football matches were not recorded on camera. Many of his goals were also allegedly scored during unofficial games or friendlies, raising further doubts about his numbers.

However, several fans appeared to be offended by Cristiano Ronaldo's alleged dig at Pele, with one writing:

"He's an insufferable human being who only cares about himself."

"Most shameless athlete in history. Keep in mind, he hasn't won an international trophy in 5 years (real Int trophy in 8 years). He also hasn't won a domestic trophy in over 4 years, no Ballon Dor since 2017, no Golden Boot since 2015. But he and his PR talks shit," another fan noted.

"such an unlikeable player," another user chimed in.

"i know a player who needed 10 attempts to make his first goal contribution in the wc ko," a netizen joked.

"If he thinks he’s better than Pele well I have news that he isn’t even the best Ronaldo to kick a football," an individual wrote.

"Theres footage of Pelé winning 3 World Cups if Cristiano Ronaldo wants to see it 🤷🏻‍♂️," an X user quipped.

Fans continued to criticize Cristiano Ronaldo, while others found his words amusing.

"The arrogance from someone that’s failed to even score or assist in a World Cup knockout game in 8 attempts," a fan said.

"Having a dig at someone with 3 World Cups, More World Cups than his country," an X user mentioned.

"Even he knows they counted goals in peles backyard," a user contradicted.

"Bro called Pele a backyard statpadder," another added.

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When Pele took his pick between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

In a 2018 interview with SporTV, deceased Brazilian legend Pele faced the age-old question of picking the greatest of all time between Cristiano Ronaldo and his arch rival, Lionel Messi.

Pele credited both icons for their respective achievements, but preferred Lionel Messi over Ronaldo. He said (via GOAL):

“I would still stay with Messi. Scoring is important, no doubt, but if you do not have anyone to prepare, then the ball is not enough. For my team I prefer Messi. Messi's been the most stable in the last 10 years. As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he's a great goalscorer."

The three-time FIFA World Cup winner continued:

"Ronaldo's been able to score goals, while you see Messi creating goals and directing the play, as well as scoring. Ronaldo's a great goalscorer but in terms of the complete player, there's no doubt that Messi is the best."

Apart from Ronaldo and Messi, Pele named Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona and Zico among the greatest footballers of all time. He also believed Neymar was getting close to that level back in 2018.