When we talk about durability in football, Cristiano Ronaldo’s name comes up. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward set many examples for young players with his work ethic and that’s why he played a staggering 1001 match in club football, plus a further 205 for Portugal, for which he scored all time 128 goals. At the age of 39, he is preparing for his last Euro, but recently got ‘a day off’ by manager Roberto Martinez. Portugal is playing two friendlies, against Sweden and Slovenia and Ronaldo will go on a short holiday and miss the first game. 🚨 Joao Cancelo: “Cristiano #Ronaldo is an important player and spent 15 years competing with Lionel Messi for the Ballon d’Or, but the peak of a footballer’s career is between the ages of 25 and 32. We don’t depend entirely on him.” Do you agree? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/kKobF6bpCP— MARCA in English 🇺🇸 (@MARCAinENGLISH) March 20, 2024 Apart from being excellent in almost everything football related, he is also known for his vanity. And a current teammate stoke a blow to his personality when he gave an interview for the Portuguese radio. Joao Cancelo was speaking about his career, but the subject was also the Portuguese national team. When the journalist asked him to measure Ronaldo’s importance for the national team, he claimed that his teammate is not so important. ‘He is an important player and spent 15 years competing with Messi for the Ballon d’Or, but the peak of a footballer’s career is between the ages of 25 and 32. He is an important player for us, but the national team does not depend entirely on him” he told Portuguese radio station RTP. Ronaldo banned for one match after a ‘provocation’Ronaldo won’t be happy when he reads this, but his manager is still full of praise for the Al-Nassr forward. “I’ve worked with many, but what sets Cristiano apart is the need to always be prepared to be the best. A contagious hunger, but very difficult to achieve” said Roberto Martinez.Santos: Cristiano was like a son to me, we haven’t been talking for 11 months…Cancelo also revealed his relationship with Pep Guardiola and what went wrong. “There are things we didn’t agree on, we’re not obligated to agree on everything. I had things I didn’t agree on or he didn’t agree with something I said, it was just that. But I don’t have resentment, I am very grateful. Life goes on, I am very, very happy here” he revealed. Ronaldo’s ‘massively high standards’ were a problem in ManchesterAnd judging by his recent performances in Barcelona, he does seem very happy and would want to stay in Catalonia. Problem is, Barca are short of cash and Manchester City want to sell the player in June, not send him to another loan. “At the moment they haven’t told me anything, but I hope I can stay. I’m doing everything to make that happen. I really want to play for Benfica, really, but I want to play two or three more years here. Although we have financial problems, I am delighted to be here. After Benfica, it is the club that I always liked. Pepe told me many times that he was a player for Real Madrid, but I told him that it was for Barcelona. The truth is that I am where I always wanted to be” said the Portuguese. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7971249##
