Brazil legend Pele hails Cristiano Ronaldo as the 'Modern Athlete'

Juventus on Monday won the Serie A title after they secured a 2-0 win over Sampdoria. With this win, Juventus claimed the ninth successive Serie A title.

New Delhi: Brazilian legend Pele on Wednesday heaped praises on Juventus' Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo for his dedication and termed him as "modern athlete".

Juventus on Monday won the Serie A title after they secured a 2-0 win over Sampdoria. With this win, Juventus claimed the ninth successive Serie A title.

Cristiano Ronaldo's stats

During the match, Ronaldo had scored at the end of the first half to hand the Bianconeri the lead and Federico Bernardeschi's second-half effort doubled Juventus' advantage.

"@Cristiano is the modern athlete, who shows everyone that success always comes to those who are dedicated and love what they do. Also, I would like to congratulate my fellow Brazilians @douglascosta, @alxsndro12 and @daniluiz2. Great work winning the @seriea title, @juventus," Pele wrote on Instagram.

Pelé

It will not be ab exaggeration to say that Cristiano Ronaldo had more of an impact on Juventus' record-extending ninth straight Serie A title than anyone else.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner matched a record by scoring in 11 straight league matches before the break for the coronavirus pandemic and quickly regained his form during the restart by reaching the 30-goal mark after only 30 games in his second season in Italy.

For his 31st goal, Ronaldo scored the opener when Juventus beat Sampdoria 2-0 on Sunday to seal the title with two games to spare.

Ronaldo needs only one more goal to break a tie for the Juventus single-season record for league goals set by Felice Borel in 1933-34.

Ronaldo's 10 goals after the lockdown are more than any other player has scored in Europe's top five leagues, with Manchester City's Raheem Sterling and Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski each scoring nine.

Juventus now have 83 points with a four-point lead over the second-placed Inter Milan on the Serie A table. They will next take on Cagliari on July 30.