Cristiano Ronaldo made Saudi Pro League history on Monday night when he became the first player to score 35 goals in a single season.
The 39-year-old reached the landmark after netting twice in Al Nassr’s 4-2 win over Al-Ittihad on the final day of the 2023/24 campaign.
Al Nassr finished in second place in the Saudi Pro League, 14 points behind champions Al-Hilal – who ended the season unbeaten.
But Ronaldo won the Golden Boot as his tally of 35 goals in 31 games saw him finish well clear of his nearest challenger, Al-Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic – with 28 goals in 28 matches.
It is no secret that individual accolades matter a great deal to Ronaldo and the former Real Madrid star celebrated wildly after goal no.35 hit the net.
Ronaldo then took to social media later on Monday night and celebrated some more by posting a graphic created to mark his record.
He shared the graphic on X.com alongside the caption: “I don’t follow the records, the records follow me.”
I don’t follow the records, the records follow me. 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/rqywmmTfZD
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) May 27, 2024
It was not the first time that Ronaldo had made this statement.
He said the very same nine words in 2019 during his first sit-down interview with Piers Morgan.
On that occasion, Ronaldo was responding to Morgan putting it to him that, although he was a “team player”, he “loves individual awards, they matter to you”.
Ronaldo replied: “It’s part of my sacrifice, my obsession to win, to have success. When I say success, I work for that. Talent is not enough. I dedicate myself so much that this is part of me, records is part of me. I don’t follow the records, the records follow me.”
“I don’t follow the records, the records follow me” 👏👏#RonaldoMeetsPiers @piersmorgan @Cristiano pic.twitter.com/PuWJXn4IHq
— ITV (@ITV) September 17, 2019
Journalist Morgan interviewed Ronaldo again in 2022 after the player had lost his place in Manchester United’s starting XI.
During this interview – which aired shortly before United terminated his contract – Ronaldo repeated his earlier quote.
This time Ronaldo was reacting to Morgan pointing out that his return to Old Trafford a year earlier had seen him break a shirt sales record previously set by Lionel Messi.
He replied: “As you know, I don’t follow the records, the records follow me. So it’s good. Another one in my book.”
As well as selling loads of shirts and scoring for fun in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo holds the record for most top-level goals in the history of men’s football.
Including Monday’s double for Al Nassr, Ronaldo has now bagged 893 goals in his senior career.