Defier of odds and age, CR7 finishes 2023 as top scorer

He will turn 39 next February. Approaching an age even long before which athletes are removed from their peak, Cristiano Ronaldo does not seem to be stopping any time soon. 

A perennial defier of odds and age, Portuguese superstar Ronaldo finished 2023 as the top goalscorer in the world for club and country, beating Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland, as the 38-year-old netted for the 54th time in Al-Nassr's 4-1 win over Al-Taawoun in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday. 

Mbappe and Kane have scored 52 goals each for club and country while Manchester City goal machine Haaland ended the year with 50 goals in total. 

This is the fifth time that Ronaldo ended the year as the top scorer, overtaking Lionel Messi to be the player who has done it the most times since the turn of the millennium. Previously, Ronaldo finished 2011 (60 goals), 2013 (69 goals), 2014 (61 goals), and 2015 (57 goals) as the top-scorer. 

Also, it was the eighth time Ronaldo scored 50-plus goals in a calendar year. He scored 50+ goals in the following years: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023. Only Messi (nine times) has scored 50-plus goals in a calendar year more times than his Portuguese arch-rival.  

Ronaldo achieved the feat when he headed home in the 92nd minute in the game against Al-Taawoun after earlier strikes by Marcelo Brozovic, Aymeric Laporte, and Otavio had put Al-Nassr in firm control.

Having already scored 20 goals in 19 appearances, Ronaldo leads the race for the Saudi Pro League Golden Boot. He has also provided nine assists as his Al-Nassr find themselves second in the league, seven points behind leaders Al-Hilal.