SOCCER
Cristiano Ronaldo reveals what he’ll miss most about soccer after retiring
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United superstar has also hinted at how much longer he will keep playing professionally.
Fresh from passing the 900-goal mark in his career at the age of 39, former Real Madrid and Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t thinking about retirement just yet. Now with Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr, the Portugal captain has set his sights on reaching 1,000 goals in professional soccer, which would further cement his legacy and be an almost impossible milestone to match.
Ronaldo netted his 900th and 901st career goals for Portugal against Croatia and Scotland respectively in the UEFA Nations League, with the fact both came in front of his home fans motivating him to keep going for more.
The veteran forward missed Al Nassr’s AFC Champions League draw against Al Shorta on Monday because of a viral infection and is a doubt for Friday’s league game away to Al Ettifaq, in which former AC Milan boss Stefano Piolo will take charge of the team for the first time.
How much longer will Cristiano Ronaldo keep playing soccer?
Via his UR Cristiano YouTube channel, which has amassed more than 62.2 million subscribers in less than a month, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has shared clips from an interview with former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand, in which the pair discuss life once he hangs up his boots.
“I think I’m going to miss that I’m not going to have the adrenaline of scoring a goal, or being nervous. I think I’m going to miss that. Because other parts, I have good control. I have good people around me, good business. I have good things, good income, but I think the adrenaline of football is never going to exist more. This is why I’m going a little bit further in football,” Ronaldo told Ferdinand.
The forward also hinted at how much longer he would keep playing: “At 40, you say ‘yes, I gave everything’. 40, 41, 42, it doesn’t matter, you say ‘I gave my body for 25 years of football, I can’t give more’ because you know that age doesn’t allow us to go further. That’s why I’m extending my longevity and that’s why I take care of myself to keep working, because I know that in two or three more years I can still produce something good”.
Ronaldo: “You have to learn from people who are smarter than you”
Once Ronaldo has called it a day, his attention will turn to his business interests, of which he already has plenty.
“Will I miss it? Of course I will miss it. I will probably be a little bit lost, but what am I going to do? Do you think I’m going to cry with the life I have? Maybe a little, because I have become more sensitive, so I will be a little like that, but I have other things to worry about and it’s going to be another chapter of my life, which is the business part, which I’m excited about too. It will be a challenge for me to learn other areas that I really don’t know.
“For me, the key to being successful outside of football, as well as the business side, is to have people who are smarter than you and you have to be capable of understanding that. I think I’m smart in football, but in other areas there are people who are much smarter than me, so you have to surround yourself with them to learn from them,” a pensive Ronaldo concluded.