Cristiano Ronaldo forces Rio Ferdinand into foul-mouthed reaction with subtle Pele dig

Cristiano Ronaldo was humorously labelled a ‘b*****d’ by Rio Ferdinand as the Portuguese superstar aimed a cheeky dig at Pele. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid legend, who is still playing at 39 for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, has no plans to retire anytime soon.

Incredibly, he has set his sights on reaching 1,000 competitive goals, a milestone that many believe was achieved by Pele, often considered the greatest footballer of all time, during his illustrious career from 1957 to 1977. However, while Pele’s total of 1,279 is recognised as a Guinness World Record, many of these goals were scored in friendlies, which are not counted in today’s game.

There is scant video evidence to support the Brazilian’s claim. Most statistical records, which only consider senior level matches, place Pele’s actual tally at 757 (680 for club and 77 for his country).

Ronaldo has already exceeded that number and currently stands at 899 goals for club and country. This means he would need to continue playing into his 40s to hit the magical 1,000-mark. Nevertheless, in a chat with ex-United colleague Ferdinand, he insisted it was achievable.

“Soon I will do 900 and after that it will be 1,000,” he boldly declared. A surprised Ferdinand said: “F****** hell, how old you going be then?”

Ronaldo replied: “41, I don’t know. If I don’t have injuries, that is most important, I want that. My challenge is to reach 1,000 goals, with one difference all the goals that I score will have video. So I can prove that.”

Catching on to Ronaldo’s cheeky jab at Pele’s contested 1,000-goal tally, Ferdinand laughed: “You’re a b******. You’re talking about [Alfredo] Di Stefano, you’re talking about Pele, you’re talking about Eusebio.”

However, Ronaldo insisted: “I respect all of them. My goals [will be on video]. If you want more goals, I can bring them from the training too, so no problem.

“All the goals with video. I will prove to the people who prefer this player or that player. I don’t care about that.”

As for the duration of his career, Ronaldo, who turns 40 in February, said: “I know I’m still looking good. I feel I can still dribble, shoot, score goals, jumping. The day that I feel I cannot produce anything, I pack my bags and I go away, but I feel far from that.”