Pele congratulates Ronaldo on joining 'elite five' goalscorers

Cristiano Ronaldo was congratulated on passing Pele in the international scoring charts by the man himself.

The Real Madrid superstar took his international goal tally for Portugal to 78 on Thursday by bagging a hat-trick in a World Cup qualifying clash with the Faroe Islands.

Ronaldo’s treble heroic carried him above legendary Brazilian Pele and into the top five on the all-time list. Only Ali Daei (109), Ferenc Puskas (84), Kunishige Kamamoto (80) and Godfrey Chitalu (79) now sit above Ronaldo on the international roll of honour.

Ronaldo has already made 144 appearances for Portugal, but there is the promise of many more to come as he shows no sign of slowing down.

Pele only took 92 games to reach 77 goals for Brazil, but he is happy to acknowledge the achievements of a modern day icon.

He wrote on Twitter: "Congratulations Cristiano for joining the elite five of #FIFA international goal scorers. Parabéns!"

UCJ, UNILORIN.