(Reuters) – Cristiano Ronaldo insists he is focused on being the perfect team member at Saudi side Al Nassr rather than collecting more individual accolades in the twilight of his career.
The 39-year-old, who has won the Ballon d’Or award five times, scored in Al Nassr’s 2-1 win over Al Rayyan of Qatar in their AFC Champions League Group B match on Monday.
It was the club’s fourth successive victory in all competitions under new coach Stefano Pioli, who replaced Luis Castro last month.
“It was a strong and difficult match like all the matches in the AFC Champions League, but the most important thing is that we created many chances and defended well to prevent the opponent from creating easy chances,” Ronaldo told a press conference.
“It is not important anymore whether I am the best or not, I no longer care about that. It is good for a player to score goals, but for me it is better for the team to win.
“I am used to breaking records and I no longer look for them. The most important thing for me now is to enjoy and help Al Nassr and my teammates to win.”
Ronaldo became the top scorer in a single season in the Saudi Pro League last May with 35 goals.
The Portugal captain also scored his 901st career goal in a 2-1 win over Scotland in the Nations League last month.
“My goal against Al Rayyan was different and important because my father would have been happy with it if he was alive, as today (yesterday) is his birthday,” the former Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United forward added.
(Reporting by Ahmed El Khashab; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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