Honour to match idol Ronaldo's Real Madrid calendar year goal record: Mbappe / Photo: Oscar DEL POZO - AFP
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Honour to match idol Ronaldo's Real Madrid calendar year goal record: Mbappe
French superstar Kylian Mbappe said it was an honour to equal his idol Cristiano Ronaldo's record of 59 Real Madrid goals in a calendar year on Saturday.
Mbappe, on his 27th birthday, tucked home an 86th-minute penalty against Sevilla in La Liga to match Ronaldo's club record set in 2013 and secure his side a 2-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu.
"It's a special day because it's my birthday, I always said it would be a dream to play in a game on my birthday and at Real Madrid, the club of my dreams," Mbappe told Real Madrid TV.
"It was the objective to finish the year with a positive result and the record is incredible.
"To do like Cristiano did, my idol, the best player in Real Madrid's history and a world great, it's an honour for me."
Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid side have struggled this season but Mbappe has been their key player, boasting 29 goals in 24 games across all competitions.
The striker won the European Golden Shoe and La Liga's top scorer award last season and leads the Spanish standings again in the current campaign with 18 strikes.
Mbappe has admitted he had posters of Portuguese icon Ronaldo on his bedroom walls as a child and that it was a dream to sign for Madrid when he arrived in the summer of 2024 from Paris Saint-Germain.
The forward celebrated his goal against Sevilla by imitating Ronaldo's signature jumping "Siu" celebration.
"It's an honour for me, I wanted to give him a wink because he's always been kind to me, he always spoke to me well about Madrid, how to adapt to Madrid and everything," continued Mbappe.
"Now I am happy to be scoring goals for Real Madrid and to win the games... (the celebration) was for him.
"Normally I have my own but I wanted to share that with him today. He was my idol as a kid, I have a very good relationship with him, he's a friend now."
Portugal international Ronaldo scored 450 goals in 438 matches for Real Madrid to become their all-time top goalscorer, with Mbappe now on 73 in 83 games.
S.Gregor--AMWN