Real Madrid Celebrates Ronaldo's Achievement

Real Madrid held a special ceremony to honour Cristiano Ronaldo on Friday after he became the club's all-time leading scorer. Ronaldo scored his 322nd and 323rd goals on Wednesday in Madrid's 2-0 win over Malmo in a Champions League game in Sweden, matching the mark previously held by Raul Gonzalez.

The club, however, consider Ronaldo to have already broken the record, counting a deflected free kick in 2010 that was later officially credited to Pepe.

Real presented Ronaldo with a custom-made trophy in a ceremony attended by his family and teammates at the Bernabeu on Friday.

After a long video showing Ronaldo's official presentation in 2009 and many of his greatest feats and important goals, club president Florentino Perez gave a speech praising the Portugal forward. "It's a very emotional day for all Real Madrid fans," Perez said. "One of our own has achieved something that was considered almost impossible to achieve. Only through his talent, his hard work and his determination was this possible."

Ronaldo also surpassed the 500 mark for career goals for club and country in the game against Malmo. "To me it's an honour to receive this award. I didn't expect it," Ronaldo said. "When I wore Real Madrid's jersey for the first time I never imagined that one day I would become the club's greatest scorer, surpassing my friend Raul and the late [Alfredo] Di Stefano. I'm very happy."

Ronaldo needed 308 games to reach his mark, while Raul did it in 741 matches from 1994 to 2010. Ronaldo is also the all-time scoring leader in the Champions League with 82 goals, five more than the injured Lionel Messi.

Several of Ronaldo's teammates were present for the ceremony at the stadium, as well as Madrid coach Rafa Benitez and the player's mother and young son. The 30- year-old Ronaldo posed for photos with all of them after the ceremony.

"First of all, I need to thank my teammates," he said. "Because without their support and their commitment, this achievement would never be possible."

Ronaldo, who has had a contentious relationship with the Madrid media, offered up an apology as well. "I would like to thank the media because I know that lately I have been kind of a jerk with you, but that is the way I am," Ronaldo said.

Ronaldo caught the eye of talent scouts while playing for Sporting Lisbon in the early 2000s, earning a transfer to Manchester United as a teenager. The Portuguese forward moved to Real Madrid after nearly six seasons in the Premier League. "His name already is a legend in Real Madrid," Perez said. "I hope the legend will keep on going."

Source: www.espnfc.com