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Football pundit Emmanuel Petit heaped praise on Cristiano Ronaldo in 2024, saying that the Al Nassr superstar was the greatest role model in football. He highlighted the career path of the Portuguese forward and how he used his ego to continue playing at the top level for over 15 years.
Speaking to TV Kampen, Petit said that Ronaldo's ambition to break all scoring records in football and the desire to maintain his fitness level drove him to become the best. He added that the former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward has shown what it would take for youngsters to succeed in the game and said (via GOAL):
"Cristiano Ronaldo can be considered the greatest role model in football history when you look at where he came from and where he is today at 39. He came from Sporting and worked step by step to be their star player and he had that ambition to stay at the very highest level for so long. He had the ambition to break all the records and achieved that.
"He has a big ego, but that ego drove him on every single day to be the very best he could. He has set the example for 15 years and I have huge respect for him. I have respect for sportsmen like that who want to get to the very top but also stay there. In terms of the mental side and physical side, what an example Cristiano Ronaldo has set."
Cristiano Ronaldo is looking to score 1000 goals in his career and has repeatedly said that it was his individual goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo is done at the top level, says Emmanuel Petit
Emmanuel Petit believes Cristiano Ronaldo is done at the highest level and proved that with his recent contract extension at Al Nassr. He added that the Portuguese forward was doing well with the national team, but the moment he left Manchester United, his club career went downhill. He told Escapist Magazine (via GOAL):
"Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed that he is done at the highest level with his new Saudi deal, but he confirmed that when he left Manchester United. Having said that, no one could have matched the crazy money he is being paid, but at 40 he is still playing well and performing for the national team. I expect to see him at the World Cup next year but I'm not shocked he is staying in Saudi, no one could've matched those terms. They are crazy."
Ronaldo has signed a new deal at Al Nassr, which will keep him at the club until 2027. He joined in 2022, after his contract at Manchester United was terminated.
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Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.
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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava