"I don't doubt that I will go down in footballing history," Cristiano Ronaldo said earlier this month. "Whether people like it or not, the numbers speak for themselves."
It's tough to argue with that, or to deny his outstanding goal return. But legendary footballers are generally not remembered by numbers. Instead, they're remembered by individual moments.
When Johan Cruyff passed away earlier this year, obituaries inevitably focused upon his footballing vision and his ability to inspire revolutionary teams as both a player and coach.
Few mentioned his six consecutive 20-goal league campaigns with Ajax between 1966-72, which was an outstanding achievement in that era, especially considering Cruyff was far more than a goalscorer.
Far more important than those numbers was that one single moment that summarised his brilliance. The Cruyff turn was his wonderful, improvised piece of skill to escape the attention of Swedish defender Jan Olsson. It was a bitesize, easily digestible, memorable moment that explains Cruyff's genius succinctly. Every legendary footballer needs a defining moment.
Ronaldo is still searching for his.
Ferenc Puskas' drag back and finish against England in Hungary's famous 6-3 win in 1953 is a perfect example of a defining moment, as is Pele's strike in the 1958 World Cup final against Sweden, when he lofted the ball over a defender's head before volleying home. Diego Maradona had his mazy dribble through the England defence in 1986.
Of modern players, Zinedine Zidane's incredible volley in the 2002 European Cup final is a perfect example of a defining moment, which is not to even mention his three World Cup final goals.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi boasts his slalom through the Real Madrid defence in 2011 and his dink over Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer last year. There are also his two crucial Champions League final goals in 2009 and 2011, both against Manchester United.
Ronaldo has scored goal after goal for both Manchester United and Real Madrid and, like Messi, has also managed two Champions League final goals.
Neither, though, was decisive: His header in the 2008 final was cancelled out by Frank Lampard's equaliser for Chelsea and Ronaldo later missed a penalty in the shootout. Six years later, he scored Real Madrid's last goal from the penalty spot in a 4-1 victory. It was a bonus, rather than a game-changing, trophy-winning moment.
There have certainly been great highlights in Ronaldo's career. His towering header in the 2011 Copa del Rey final stands out, as does his clever finish to effectively win La Liga at the Camp Nou a year later.
Internationally, his hat trick against Sweden in the playoff for the 2014 World Cup was remarkable. But none of these examples are player- and era-defining tales; we won't be telling our grandchildren about them years to come. 364 goals in 347 Real Madrid games is the go-to evidence for Ronaldo's brilliance but it's hardly a romantic appraisal of his career.
In terms of his legacy, a single stunning goal against Atletico Madrid in this weekend's Champions League final could be worth 50 league goals next season. Now 31, and probably on the way down physically, even if he's likely to compete at the top level for many years to come, he needs that big moment soon.
Ronaldo's game has changed significantly during his top-flight career. In his first season with Manchester United he was essentially a flashy, showboating winger with extremely inconsistent end product. He became one of the world's best because his mentality changed entirely; he became more direct, more efficient and more ruthless.
His 2007-08 campaign at United was perhaps his peak, not in terms of his goalscoring ability as he netted 42 times, but for being the perfect blend between those younger, carefree days and the latter, statistic-heavy period. He was a great goalscorer and a scorer of great goals.
These days, Ronaldo is almost solely a scorer, with the vast majority of his goals struck from close-range, inside-left positions. His rate has barely dipped -- we've might take the goal-a-game record of him and Messi for granted but it shows incredible consistency over a sustained period -- but the quality of goal has.
That is primarily because Ronaldo simply isn't doing the things that take the breath away as often. Outstanding individual goals are scored, in general, from a long-range shot or following a dribble, so it's worth considering how Ronaldo's numbers have declined in this respect.
From 2009-10, his first season in La Liga, to 2015-16, the number of shots Ronaldo has taken from outside the box have more than halved.
It's a similar story when assessing how often he dribbles past opponents: This season he has done that almost 50 percent less than in his first Liga campaign.
These statistics suggest that, in terms of finding a single moment, it's becoming less likely that Ronaldo will provide something to rival the Cryuff turn, the Maradona run or the Zidane volley. He's simply spending more time inside the penalty box, focusing upon scoring simple goals.
Therefore his moment, should it arrive, will probably not be a single strike but, instead, a decisive individual performance; he's more likely to score a hat trick of close-range goals than produce something unquestionably extravagant. It is more likely to be "the Ronaldo final" than "the Ronaldo run."
He's now 31 and so it's inevitable to wonder what his legacy will be. Perhaps, as he points out, it will be that incredible goalscoring record, which befits an era when football is based around numbers more than ever and when individual talent takes precedent over team cohesion.
One league title and one Champions League in seven seasons with Real Madrid is something of a disappointment for him in terms of trophies won but a genuinely matchwinning performance in Saturday's European Cup final might be Ronaldo's career peak.
A brilliant counter-attacking goal, an acrobatic finish, a spectacular free kick -- it doesn't really matter. One of football's greatest should be remembered by more than mere numbers and it's time for Ronaldo's golden moment.