India, Oct. 12 -- Cristiano Ronaldo has made his stance on football's long-standing GOAT debate clear, claiming he is the greatest player in history and insisting his goalscoring record deserves more recognition.

The Athletic published excerpts from Ronaldo's interview with CNN, in which the 41-year-old said: "People do not give the level I produce and my goals the credit they deserve."

The numbers do back his claim. Ronaldo has scored 980 goals in 1,337 professional appearances for clubs and Portugal. Almost half of those goals (450) came for Real Madrid in 438 appearances, while he has scored 146 for Portugal and 145 more for Manchester United. He has also netted 133 goals in 156 appearances for his current club, Al Nassr, and 101 in ...