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Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest footballers of all time but even he has a few regrets.
Cristiano Ronaldo has enjoyed an illustrious career for both club and country. After becoming a teenage sensation at Sporting Lisbon, he was roped in by Manchester United. Under Sir Alex Ferguson's tutelage, Cristiano Ronaldo blossomed into one of the finest players on the planet.
He subsequently spent an incredibly successful nine years at Real Madrid, where he won four UEFA Champions League titles among various other honours and personal accolades, before moving to Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo is 36 now and though he still manages to clock spectacular numbers, his age is slowly catching up with him.
It has been a privilege to watch Cristiano Ronaldo play and his career graph is the kind of stuff legends are made of. But the absolute serial winner that Cristiano Ronaldo is, he might still feel like he could have accomplished a few more things.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five regrets of Cristiano Ronaldo's career so far.
5 regrets of Cristiano Ronaldo's career so far
5) Losing a Champions League final with Man Utd
Manchester United were arguably the best side in the world when they won the UEFA Champions League in the 2007-08. Sir Alex Ferguson had a plethora of talent at his disposal and Cristiano Ronaldo was his main man.
The team won three back-to-back Premier League titles from 2006-2009 and Cristiano Ronaldo won his first Ballon d'Or in 2008. Ronaldo would have loved to cap off his Manchester United career with a second UEFA Champions League title and he nearly got his wish too.
Pitted against Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in the 2008-2009 season's Champions League final, Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't make much of an impact as Manchester United fell to a 2-0 defeat. It was the kind of game that was set up for Ronaldo but it ended up being the only Champions League final he has played in and lost.
4) Getting injured in Euro 2016 final and not being able to play a starring role
Portugal were crowned champions at Euro 2016 and Cristiano Ronaldo was their standout performer in the semi-finals against Wales, scoring the first goal and setting up their second. Portugal played France in the final and they went on to win the Euros but they had to do it without Cristiano Ronaldo.
In a collision with Dimitri Payet in the 17th minute of the game, Ronaldo came off worse. His knee was hurting and he had to come off eight minutes later. Ronaldo was reduced to tears as he limped off. He had sprained his MCL and had to watch the rest of the game from the dugout.
Still, he made his presence felt in the tactical area and urged his teammates on till the very last minute. It exemplified his passion for the game.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo has not won the FIFA World Cup with Portugal
Just like Cristiano Ronaldo, winning the FIFA World Cup is any footballer's dream. But football is a team sport and even if a side has the best player in the world in their lineup, all the individuals have to come together and go over the line together. Suffice to say, there are a lot of variables when it comes to winning a tournament.
The farthest that Portugal have gone in a World Cup since Cristiano Ronaldo broke into the international side is the semi-final in the 2006 edition. They crashed out in the group stage in 2014 and only made it until Round of 16 in the 2010 and 2018 editions.
By the time the 2022 World Cup arrives, Ronaldo will be 38 and his powers will have waned. But Portugal do have a raft of sensational players and so it wouldn't be wise to assume that they won't be able to win the World Cup in 2022. As such, this is something Ronaldo could yet chalk off from his list of regrets.
#2 Failing to inspire Juventus to the Champions League title
Juventus were absolutely unstoppable domestically when they decided to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. They were willing to shell out in excess of €100 million to sign him from Real Madrid to boost their chances of winning the UEFA Champions League.
The Bianconeri had come close twice in recent years. They were beaten by Barcelona in the final of the UEFA Champions League in the 2014-15 season and by Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid in the 2016-17 edition.
However, since Cristiano Ronaldo joined in the summer of 2018, Juventus have crashed out in the Round of 16 twice and reached the quarter finals once. The Portuguese has not been able to inspire Juventus to a Champions League title.
The timing has not been perfect either. Juventus are a team that has been searching for a new identity and have changed managers twice since Ronaldo joined.
#1 Not winning as many Ballon d'Ors as Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's rivalry is one for the ages. We're blessed to have witnessed two of the best footballers to have ever played the sport battling for supremacy against each other at the peak of their powers.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have enjoyed a duopoly of sorts over the Ballon d'Or for a decade. Ronaldo has five Ballon d'Ors to his name. However, Messi has six and given Ronaldo's competitive nature, he won't be satisfied until he can match the Argentine's haul or top it.
But Ronaldo is 36 now and with other players now making a strong claim for football's biggest individual prize, it might be really tough for him to catch up with Messi. If that's the case then it will be something that will stay in the back of Cristiano Ronaldo's mind.
