Cristiano Ronaldo says this season is likely to be his last as a player after a glittering career.
The 41-year-old married his partner, Georgina Rodriguez, on Tuesday and is contemplating a future orientated around his family.
A five-time Ballon d’Or and five-time Champions League winner, Ronaldo has won league titles in England, Spain, Italy and Saudi Arabia and is the all-time top goalscorer in men’s international football.
The Portugal captain has spent almost four years at Saudi Pro League champions Al-Nassr, where he has one year remaining on his contract.
“This is probably my last year of football, and I want to leave a spectacular legacy,” Ronaldo told Vogue in an interview about his wedding.
“I have my future all mapped out. I have so many things to keep me busy that to tell you just one thing is hard. Because football could leave a big hole, you have to fill your time in various ways, not just one.
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“Have more fun, travel more, watch and play padel, which I really like, and continue to enjoy what I’ve earned – what we’ve earned.
“Because after all it’s been 25 years with a lot of sacrifice.”
Ronaldo is 24 goals away from scoring 1,000 senior career goals.
His long-time rival Lionel Messi, who has won the Ballon d’Or accolade a record eight times, recently also said he was unsure how much longer he would continue playing football.
The players’ respective World Cup campaigns could hardly have looked more different as Messi scored eight goals and led Argentina all the way to the final, while Ronaldo’s Portugal bowed out in the round of 16.
Asked in July whether his sixth World Cup would be his last, Ronaldo said he would decide “with a calm head” in a conversation with his family.
Al-Nassr opened their Saudi Pro League title defence against Al Fateh on Saturday and Ronaldo did not play, but he watched the champions win from the stands with his family.
Cristiano Ronaldo grew up in poverty on the remote island of Madeira, but became football’s first billionaire player, and one of the most recognisable people on the planet.
BBC
