There have been better players than the Portuguese phenomenon, but none more committed to self-improvement and physical fitness
Stanley Matthews once said that, “Fitness is confidence.” Cristiano Ronaldo is the most spectacular case in point. The forward is still playing professional football at 40 years of age – and still laying claim to being the greatest player the game has ever seen.
“It could be a question of taste but I think it’s me,” Ronaldo told La Sexta just two days before his landmark birthday on Wednesday. “I do everything in football. I head well, I take set-pieces well, I shoot well with my left foot, I’m fast, I’m strong, I jump.
“Taste is one thing, saying this, that or that, whether you prefer (Lionel) Messi, Pele or (Diego) Maradona, I hear it and I respect it, but to say that Cristiano isn’t complete is a lie. I’m the most complete. I don’t see anyone better than me and I tell you that with all my heart.”
Ronaldo obviously isn’t the GOAT. Lionel Messi put paid to that particular argument in Qatar just over two years ago. And the Portuguese isn’t even the most complete player ever to play for Real Madrid – that particular title belongs to Alfredo di Stefano.
There is, however, an argument to be made that Ronaldo, who is closing in on his 1000th professional goal, is the finest athlete in football history.
Ronaldo’s perceived arrogance has always irritated many people within the game. The self-praise and constant displays of petulance have created the impression that he is an egotist obsessed with individual accolades in a team sport.
However, one cannot help but respect his discipline, diligence and dedication, as Ronaldo’s professionalism has long astounded and inspired those who have worked with him.
From a very young age, he was desperate to be the best. When he was a teenager at Sporting CP, then-coach Fernando Santos once told him that he was weak in the air. The very next day, Santos saw Ronaldo out on the training pitch, “practicing headers over and over again”.
After moving to Manchester United, Ronaldo realised that he not only needed to improve his all-round game – but also his strength and conditioning.
At the time of his arrival at Old Trafford, Ryan Giggs, who played Premier League football himself until the age of 40, was the club’s undisputed standard-bearer when it came to physical fitness.
By the time he’d left for Madrid, though, Ronaldo was the example that others tried to follow, having transformed himself from a skinny show-boater into the supreme physical specimen.
Even Giggs was blown away: “At the start of his career, you could never foresee him going on and scoring so many goals,” the Welshman told the PA Agency. “He was a talent and a brilliant player who excited you. But he was always in the gym and had it in his mind how good he could be.
“Cristiano was also always a student of the game and, just like me, he was always looking for that extra edge. He looked after himself – he ate right, rested well and lived for the game – and was the best professional I ever played with.”
Carlo Ancelotti was just as awestruck by Ronaldo’s remarkable commitment to his craft during their time together at Madrid. There was simply nothing Ronaldo wouldn’t do to ensure he was in peak physical condition for each and every single match he played.
“We would sometimes return from a European match and it could be three in the morning, but Ronaldo would be the one player who did not go straight home,” Ancelotti told The Daily Mail. “Instead, he would go to the training ground for the ice bath, to help with his recovery.”
It was a similar story at Juventus.
‘All want to have a body like his’
Back in 2019, the Bianconeri’s decision to pay €100 million (£84/$104m) for Ronaldo stunned a lot of influential figures in football, including Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “We at Bayern Munich would not invest so much money in a 33-year-old,” the Bavarian club’s then-CEO told TZ. “Marketing has certainly played a big role in this transfer.”
Rummenigge was right, of course. Ex-Juventus president Andrea Agnelli was keen to cash in on ‘The Ronaldo Effect’ and the Bianconeri benefited enormously – and instantaneously – from being associated with the ‘CR7’ brand.
Of course, despite signing ‘Mr. Champions League’, Juve infamously failed to achieve the continental glory they craved – but that wasn’t Ronaldo’s fault.
He not only delivered off the field, he produced the goods on it too, scoring 101 goals in 134 games and inspiring everyone around him to work even harder.
“Since he arrived at the club, the percentage of body fat throughout the squad has gone down,” winger Douglas Costa revealed in an interview with Esporte Interativo in November 2019. “You often see Ronaldo topless and his physique is awesome. It drives everyone on and we all want to have a body like his.”
‘The man is a machine’
In a commendable testament to Ronaldo’s industry-wide influence, while he was still in Turin he was already coming up against a new generation of players that viewed him as the ultimate role model.
Erling Haaland even admitted that the five-time Ballon d’Or was the reason why he had become a footballer. “He is a big inspiration for all of us,” the Norwegian striker told the Bundesliga’s official website in January 2021.
“Just look at him: the man is a machine!”
He still is at 40 – and while that’s genuinely extraordinary, it’s hardly surprising. Giggs tipped Ronaldo to continue playing into his 40s, as did Madrid’s former fitness coach, Giovanni Mauri, who had also previously worked with Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“They were all athletes with great flexibility despite their strength,” Mauri told Tuttosport. “And Cristiano Ronaldo is part of this category.”
Obviously, it needs to be acknowledged that the likes of Giggs, Maldini, Costacurta and Ibrahimovic finished their careers playing in one of Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues when they eventually decided to retire, whereas Ronaldo is undeniably benefiting from playing at a lower level in the Saudi Pro League.
As motivated as ever
The fact that he’s still scoring goals shouldn’t be downplayed, though. After all, Neymar didn’t net once in the league during his 18 months at Al-Hilal as he mustered only three appearances because of the kind of incessant injuries that Ronaldo has managed to avoid for the vast majority of his 23-year career due to his professionalism and relentless pursuit of perfection.
Neymar shares a birthday with Ronaldo, but they have little else in common as characters. Whereas Neymar wasted his natural ability, Ronaldo made the absolute most of his – which is why we’re far more likely to see the latter at next summer’s World Cup than a man seven years his junior.
Of course, whether Portugal should really continue counting on Ronaldo at this stage of his career is very much open to debate.
There’s no denying that his performance level has dipped dramatically over the past few years. Father Time catches up with everyone and Ronaldo is no exception in that regard.
He’s not done yet, though, at least not in his head. Fitness really is confidence as far as Ronaldo is concerned and there can’t be a person on the planet who doesn’t expect him to turn up in better shape than any 41-year-old in football history – and still supremely confident of proving himself the greatest of all time.
