Tag: Cristiano Ronaldo

Star Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo set YouTube ablaze with his channel, titled “UR · Cristiano,” where he will discuss football, family and nutrition among other topics.

Considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time, the football star is the most followed person on social media with 917 million followers across various platforms.

Thanks to his astounding fame, his channel “UR Cristiano” took just five hours to reach one million subscribers, the numbers, however, are growing rapidly and at the time when this story was filed his channel’s subscribers tally was nearing the three-million mark.

Ronaldo, who leads Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia and Portugal’s national side, will be seen chatting with guests about “family, wellness, nutrition, preparation, recovery, education, and business,” according to the news announcement.

Reacting to the launching of his YouTube channel, the 39-year-old said that the project was on his mind for a long time.

“Finally, we have the opportunity to make it real. I have always enjoyed having such a strong relationship with fans on social media and my YouTube channel will give me an even bigger platform to do so and they will learn more about me, my family, and my views on many different subjects. I am also looking forward to sharing conversations with guests that will no doubt surprise people!” he added.

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In his first-ever video on ‘UR · Cristiano,’ the football star is seen rating his best Euro goals.

Ronaldo’s football career spans more than two decades in which he played for clubs including Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.

Throughout his career, Cristiano Ronaldo has won 33 trophies, five UEFA Champions Leagues, five Ballon d’Or awards and a record three UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Awards.

The Portuguese footballer holds the record for most appearances, goals and assists in both the Champions League and European Championship, along with the most international goals and international appearances.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more than 890 official senior career goals for both club and country, making him the top goalscorer of all time.

Earlier this year, Cristiano Ronaldo topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes for the fourth time in his career.

Ronaldo became the world’s highest-paid athlete after his move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr as Forbes said that the 39-year-old’s estimated total earnings were in the region of $260 million, an all-time high for a soccer player.

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Time is up — again — for Portugal’s ageing superstar Cristiano Ronaldo after an inglorious Euro 2024 exit with a quarter-final defeat against France.

France ousted the 2016 winners 5-3 on penalties after a goalless quarter-final in Hamburg on Friday and Ronaldo was ineffectual at best, damaging to his own side’s aspirations at worst.

In the 2022 World Cup when former coach Fernando Santos dropped Ronaldo to the bench for the team’s 6-1 demolition of Switzerland, a bright Portugal future shimmered on the horizon.

However, his successor Roberto Martinez has backed the 39-year-old, now playing in Saudi Arabia at Al-Nassr, to the hilt and beyond.

Maintaining the former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward as their figurehead, Portugal swept through Euros qualification with a 100 percent record and were among the favourites in Germany.

However, they have badly under-performed with Ronaldo failing to find the net in five appearances this summer. The striker is without a goal in his last nine major tournament matches.

Despite boasting strong options to replace him, including Liverpool’s Diogo Jota and Paris Saint-Germain’s Goncalo Ramos, Martinez refused to take Ronaldo off against France.

Didier Deschamps substituted Les Bleus icon Kylian Mbappe as he struggled to make an impact but Ronaldo remained even as the game passed him by.

In Portugal’s Last-16 win over Slovenia, Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty in extra-time and burst into tears, a distracting sideshow, but Martinez praised the forward’s emotional reaction after the game as a sign of his passion.

However many suspect those tears were not for Portugal but for himself, as he failed to break the record for the oldest player ever to score at a European Championship.

Ronaldo also ended his run of scoring at every major international tournament he has competed in, and could not extend his record of 14 Euros goals.

He took 23 shots without success in Germany, and perhaps the most damning was a glittering opportunity in extra-time against France.

Spritely winger Francisco Conceicao cut the ball back to the forward, a few yards out from goal, but somehow he fired his team’s clearest chance high over the bar.

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It was the kind of chance that Ronaldo has dispatched a hundred times in his career.

Ronaldo’s presence heavily conditions the way Portugal plays.

His team-mates, including creative geniuses Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva, often resort to crosses to try and find him.

Cristiano Ronaldo no longer has the pace to consistently break in behind the defence, limiting the passing options of the team’s playmakers.

Martinez not only did not seem powerful enough to leave Ronaldo out of his plans altogether but could not even bring himself to substitute the forward at the tournament, except for in the shock 2-0 defeat by Georgia.

Ronaldo started that match even though Portugal were guaranteed to win the group, while virtually every other regular was rested.

The coach said after elimination by France that no decision had been made over Ronaldo’s future at international level.

“We just finished the game, everything is still too raw, we’re suffering a defeat as a team, there’s no individual decisions at this point,” Martinez told reporters.

One of the reasons the Spanish coach may not feel powerful enough to cut the cord is the ‘cult of Cristiano’ which is evident among the team’s supporters.

Adults stalked the streets of Frankfurt, Leipzig and Berlin this summer relentlessly yelling Ronaldo’s “Siiiiiuuuu” celebration, for hours on end.

To attend a Portugal match is to swim in a sea of maroon Ronaldo ‘7’ shirts, with some fans wearing masks of their talisman’s face.

Even opposition fans come to watch the Ronaldo circus, though there is more sulking and pouting than goals now.

“(Our fans) mostly wanted to see Ronaldo, that’s why they flocked to the match,” noted Slovenia midfielder Adam Gnezda Cerin of a March friendly in which they beat Ronaldo and Portugal 2-0.

Although at the Euros they were eventually eliminated by Portugal on penalties, they exposed Ronaldo’s inadequacies once more at this level and France finished the job.

Cristiano Ronaldo admitted these will be his last Euros, but as Portugal now turn their attention to the 2026 World Cup, their chances will surely be magnified without the preening, past-it hitman.

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A young fan ran onto the pitch during Saturday’s Euro 2024 match between Turkey and Portugal and posed for a selfie with Cristiano Ronaldo in the centre circle.

The fan, wearing a red tracksuit top, evaded security staff as he emerged from the stand behind the benches midway through the second half of the game in Dortmund and made his way towards the Portugal skipper.

Portugal were leading 3-0 in the Group F game at the time, and Ronaldo posed smiling for a photo before the pitch invader ran off trying to escape stewards.

They eventually caught up with him and escorted him away to applause from the stands.

Shortly afterwards, another youngster attempted to copy the first pitch invader but this time an exasperated Ronaldo threw his arms up in frustration and did not agree to a second selfie.

The youth was then brusquely manhandled away from the superstar forward and off the playing area.

Portugal eventually swept into the last 16 of Euro 2024 after comfortably seeing off Turkey 3-0 and guaranteeing first place in Group F.

Bernardo Silva’s fine finish in the 21st minute, a comical Samet Akaydin own goal shortly afterwards and Bruno Fernandes’s second-half tap-in gave Portugal a straightforward win in front of swathes of passionate Turkish fans in Dortmund.

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Portugal looked every inch a team aiming to win their second European Championship after triumphing in 2016, their star-studded line-up easily dealing with Vincenzo Montella’s enthusiastic but limited Turkey team.

Cristiano Ronaldo will have at least two more tries to become the oldest goalscorer at a European Championship as Martinez said on Friday that the 39-year-old is in the right shape to play every four days.

It was Ronaldo who unselfishly set up Fernandes for a simple goal in the 56th minute after springing through Turkey’s offside trap, and he then had time to pose for a selfie with a child fan who invaded the pitch midway through the second half.

Martinez’s side, on a perfect six points, will face one of the four best third-place finishers in the next round and go into their final group game against Georgia without any pressure for a result.

The same cannot be said for Turkey who need a draw against the Czech Republic on Wednesday to ensure second place.

Turkey’s passionate support again flocked to the Westfalenstadion in huge numbers, with long tailbacks on the roads leading to the ground several hours before the 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) kick-off.

Some fans sat on the top of cars leading chants among the thousands of supporters who crawled towards their destination.

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Cristiano Ronaldo broke the record for the most goals in a Saudi Pro League season when he struck for the 34th and 35th time in Al Nassr’s final game of the campaign.

“I don’t follow the records, the records follow me,” the 39-year-old Portuguese forward tweeted afterwards.

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star struck in first-half stoppage time and again in the 69th minute with a header as Al Nassr defeated Al Ittihad 4-2 at home on Monday.

The previous record for most goals in a single season was the 34 scored by the Moroccan Abderrazak Hamdallah in 2018-19.

Al Nassr were already assured of a second-placed finish, coming a distant 14 points behind champions Al Hilal.

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Riyadh-based Al Nassr in December 2022, the start of an influx of overseas players to the Saudi league on lucrative contracts.

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Notably, the star Portuguese forward ended the year 2023 as the leading goal-scorer, leaving behind the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.

Cristiano Ronaldo became the highest goal scorer of 2023 during his side Al-Nassr’s Saudi Pro League fixture against Al-Ittihad on December 26.

Ronaldo scored a decisive brace in his side’s 5-2 victory over Al-Ittihad which also propelled him to the top of the goal-scoring charts.

Ronaldo converted two crucial penalties in the game, lifting his tally to 53 goals and 15 assists in 58 matches.

This achievement took Cristiano Ronaldo past the 52 goals scored by Harry Kane (57 matches) and Kylian Mbappe (53 matches) while playing for Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively.

Ronaldo, who led Portugal to victory at the 2016 Euros, has been selected for the squad for this year’s edition in Germany next month — his 11th international tournament.

He is the most capped player in men’s international football with 206 appearances and has scored a record 128 goals.

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New Zealand’s legendary batter Ross Taylor spoke highly of India’s batting star Virat Kohli, stating “he is up there” with football greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo and Messi are regarded as two of the best football players in the world, courtesy of their unparalleled success on the field amid their ongoing decorated careers. Whereas, Kohli has been reaching new heights as a batter since making his debut for India in 2008.

In addition to their on-field achievements, Ronaldo and Messi have been sweeping the social media landscape.

The Portugal international is the most followed individual on Instagram with 630 million followers, followed by the Argentine superstar, who has 503 million followers.

Virat Kohli has a whopping 269 million followers on Instagram, the 13th highest in the world by an individual.

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Meanwhile, former New Zealand batter Ross Taylor asserted that Kohli is parallel to Ronaldo and Messi in terms of social media influence.

“Players are putting outposts endorsing products and things like that. Who would have thought of that in 2008? Someone like Kohli, who is a superstar in the world of cricket, but is also a global superstar in the world of sports,” stated Taylor.

“In terms of Instagram and social media, he’s up there with Ronaldo and Messi,” he added.

It is worth mentioning here that Virat Kohli has thus far represented India in 522 international matches across formats and scored 26,773 runs with the help of 80 centuries and 139 fifties.

He was also a part of the Indian teams that won the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013.

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ABUD DHABI: Veteran striker Cristiano Ronaldo was shown a red card during Al-Nassr’s 2-1 loss to Al-Hilal in the Saudi Super Cup semi-final at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Monday.

The star player received marching orders four minutes before the final time as he elbowed opponent defender Ali Hadi Mohammed Al-Bulaihi in frustration as his team was heading towards a 2-0 loss.

Former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, however, scored a consolation goal for Al-Nassr in injury time to reduce the deficit.

Al-Nassr’s manager, Castro criticized the decision and accused Al-Bulaihi of acting to get Ronaldo sent off.

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“The decision was incorrect,” said Castro. “The Al Hilal defender pretended that he was hit in the face, and it was a play on his part, and the contact was small, and they took advantage of Ronaldo’s provocation.”

“The VAR referee was supposed to call the main referee, and this is my personal opinion.”

Earlier, Al-Hilal drew first blood in the 62nd minute courtesy of Salem Al-Dawsari finding Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s cross and sending the ball smoothly into the net.

The defending champions’ lead was extended ten minutes later as Michael’s long cross found Malcolm, who headed the ball to get his name on the scoresheet.

Al-Hilal will face Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Super Cup final on Thursday, aiming for their fourth title.

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Saudi Arabia’s football governing body on Thursday suspended Cristiano Ronaldo for one game over a gesture he made on the pitch last weekend that was judged a “provocation”.

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation said the Al-Nassr captain and former Porto star was also fined a total of 30,000 riyals ($8,000) for the move, which broke rules against provoking the public during a match. The decision cannot be appealed.

Video emerged after his side’s 3-2 win against Al-Shabab showing Ronaldo making a repeated thrusting gesture towards his groin in response to crowds taunting him by chanting the name of his longtime rival, Lionel Messi.

The content quickly went viral and surged to the top of Saudi social media trending topics.

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Sports newspaper Al-Riyadiya reported Ronaldo as saying he respected all football clubs and that the gesture expressed “strength and victory” — not offence — and was considered acceptable in Europe.

The 39-year-old, a five-time winner of the UEFA Champions League, was the first major star to move to the kingdom when he penned a deal with Al-Nassr in January 2023.

Saudi Pro League teams have gone on a spending spree to lure big-name players, and the country is set to host the 2034 World Cup as part of a broader move into global sport.

France’s Karim Benzema, Brazilian star Neymar and Senegalese striker Sadio Mane have also left Europe behind for bumper pay packets in the conservative kingdom.

But Riyadh has been accused by its critics of “sportswashing” by using athletics to improve its international reputation after widespread criticism of its human rights and environmental record.

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Star Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo is all set to end the year 2023 as the leading goal-scorer, leaving behind the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.

Ronaldo became the highest goal scorer of 2023 on Tuesday during his side Al-Nassr’s Saudi Pro League fixture against Al-Ittihad.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a decisive brace in his side’s 5-2 victory over Al-Ittihad which also propelled him to the top of the goal-scoring charts.

Ronaldo converted two crucial penalties in the game, lifting his tally to 53 goals and 15 assists in 58 matches.

This achievement took Cristiano Ronaldo past the 52 goals scored by Harry Kane (57 matches) and Kylian Mbappe (53 matches) while playing for Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively.

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Notably, It’s a fact that neither Kane nor Mbappe can reclaim the top spot, as their clubs are unequivocally set to resume official competitions only in 2024.

Whereas, the only other potential contender Erling Haaland scored 50 goals in 60 matches for Manchester United.

However, the injuries got the better of the Norweigan forward this year and also kept him out of the Club World Cup.

He is all set to miss his side’s last fixture of 2023 when the City take on Sheffield United on Saturday.

List of top goal-scorers in 2023
Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr) – 53 goals (58 matches)
Kylian Mbappe (PSG) – 52 goals (53 matches)
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) – 52 goals (57 matches)
Erling Haaland (Manchester City) – 50 goals (60 matches)
Garbhan Coughlan (Cashmere Technical) – 41 goals (27 matches)
Denis Bouanga (Los Angeles FC) – 40 goals (53 matches)
German Cano (Fluminense) – 40 goals (61 matches)
Romelu Lukaku (Roma) – 40 goals (61 matches)
Barnabas Varga (Ferencvaros) – 39 goals (45 matches)
Santiago Gimenez (Feyenoord) – 39 goals (63 matches)

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English midfielder Jude Bellingham has broken the club record for scoring the most goals in the first 15 matches at Real Madrid, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo in his debut La Liga season.

Bellingham contributed to Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Cadiz at the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla, with a goal and an assist to extending his goal tally to 14 in the ongoing season.

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He left Real Madrid legends Cristiano Ronaldo, Alfredo Di Stefano and Pruden Sanchez behind to claim the record as they all scored 13 goals in their first 15 games.

Bellingham’s feat is even more impressive considering the fact that he plays in the midfield while the legends he surpassed are all strikers.

Jude Bellingham has been in impressive form in the ongoing season since making his La Liga debut with a goal in Real Madrid’s season opener against Atheltic Club.

Bellingham was signed by Real Madrid this summer from Borussia Dortmund at a base transfer fee of €103 million.

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He is currently the top-scorer in La Liga 2023-24 and a solid contender for Pichichi, an award for the top-scorer in the Spanish league with 14 goals, followed by Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann with nine goals.

Bellingham’s side Real Madrid are currently sitting at the top of the La Liga points table after defeating Cadiz, with a point clear of high-flying Girona, who host Athletic Bilbao on Monday in their pursuit to reclaim the top spot.

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Bruno Fernandes ran the show for Portugal as they romped to a record 9-0 win over Luxembourg on Monday without suspended talisman and all-time top goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Roberto Martinez’s side have now won all six of their qualifying games, without conceding a single goal and scoring 24 themselves, with this the country’s largest-ever victory.

Portugal lead the Group J standings, five points clear of Slovakia in second place, whom they beat in Bratislava on Friday. Luxembourg are third, three points behind Slovakia.

Manchester United playmaker Fernandes, who scored Portugal’s winner against Slovakia, laid on three goals as the Selecao filled their boots and scored one himself.

Goncalo Ramos, Diogo Jota and Goncalo Inacio struck two goals each, while Ricardo Horta and Joao Felix also scored.

Martinez, who replaced Fernando Santos after the Qatar World Cup, has a 100 percent record at the helm to date.

“We are still at the beginning of a new era with a new coach and we are still taking on board the coach’s ideas,” said Jota.

“Today we set a reference point match (to look at in) the future.”

Sporting Lisbon defender Inacio sent the hosts ahead in the 12th minute with a header from Fernandes’ exquisite cross with the outside of his foot.

Paris Saint-Germain striker Ramos drilled home the second five minutes later after Fernandes pressed high to win the ball back.

The 22-year-old striker then grabbed another goal in the 33rd minute with a clever turn and clinical finish for his sixth goal in eight appearances for his country.

Liverpool striker Jota hit the crossbar as Portugal dominated at the Algarve stadium near the country’s south coast.

Inacio headed home his second goal from another Fernandes cross on the stroke of half-time and Jota struck early in the second half for the fifth, set up by the Red Devils midfielder again.

Portugal thrashed Luxembourg 6-0 in their first clash in the Grand Duchy and Horta rifled home from the edge of the box for their sixth of the night to match the haul.

Jota, who set up Horta, walloped home the seventh as Portugal continued pushing on without remorse, and Fernandes capped his virtuoso display by netting the eighth.

That matched their previous best win, 8-0 on three occasions, but substitute Felix struck a superb ninth from the edge of the box to set Portugal’s new record.

“We have a great group of players, we take every game very seriously,” said Horta.

“We’re on the right track, but we have things to improve. Against Slovakia we played a game that was not at the level this team (can offer).”

Martinez’s side can qualify for Euro 2024 on October 13 if they beat Slovakia and Luxembourg fail to beat Iceland.

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