"Turn on the television, and no longer see Cristiano Ronaldo’s name ' - Real Madrid icon claims it will be 'difficult' to see ex-teammate retire

Former Real Madrid defender Pepe believes that Cristiano Ronaldo's retirement will be very difficult for fans to accept. The Al-Nassr superstar is in the twilight of his esteemed career, but has displayed no signs of slowing down.

Ronaldo has scored five goals from six games in all competitions this season for the Saudi Pro League club, helping them sit comfortably at the top of the league table. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has scored 946 goals from 1290 games for club and country in his career, 451 of which were scored for Real Madrid.

Pepe shared the pitch with the 40-year-old on 241 occasions for Los Blancos during their time together at the Santiago Bernabeu. They also featured 107 times for Portugal, famously winning the Euro 2016 and the UEFA Nations League in 2019.

Speaking to AS, Pepe paid tribute to his former teammate.

“It will be difficult for us, the fans, when he decides to stop, turn on the television, and no longer see Cristiano Ronaldo’s name,” said Pepe.

Ronaldo is gearing up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which could prove to be his swansong with the national team.

How many trophies has Cristiano Ronaldo won with Real Madrid?

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid from Manchester United in the summer of 2009 for a then world record fee of £80m. The Portuguese superstar moved to the Santiago Bernabeu as one of the best players in the world, but managed to hit an even higher gear with the LaLiga giants.

Ronaldo's arrival added more fireworks to the already fiery El Clasico, thanks to the presence of his eternal rival Lionel Messi at Camp Nou. For the next nine seasons, the superstar duo lit up Spanish football, before the Portuguese left Los Blancos in the summer of 2018 to move to Juventus.

By then, he had become Real Madrid's record goalscorer, and had secured 16 trophies with the club. He won the league twice with the LaLiga giants, and also lifted four of his five Champions League titles at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Ronaldo also won three FIFA Club World Cups and three UEFA Super Cups with Los Blancos, along with two Copa del Rey and two Supercopa de Espana. Interestingly, four of his five Ballon d'Or titles were won during his time with Real Madrid. After a three-year stint with Juventus, and a brief second coming at Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Al-Nassr in December 2022.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over seven years at Sportskeeda. He has written nearly 10000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 21 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Deepungsu Pandit