Sporting Lisbon honors Cristiano Ronaldo on the 20th Anniversary of his debut by bringing major changes to the club

Cristiano Ronaldo, 38, still has the same hard-working mentality.

Sporting Lisbon honors Cristiano Ronaldo on the 20th Anniversary of his debut by bringing major changes to the club

Cristiano Ronaldo at Sporting Lisbon. (Source: via Bein Sports and Twitter/@brfootball)

To celebrate Cristiano Ronaldo‘s 20th anniversary with Sporting Lisbon, his former club has done three special things. From changing the name of their youth academy to adding a little easter egg on their new ‘special edition’ jersey.

First, they changed the name of their youth academy from ‘Academia Sporting’ to ‘Academia Cristiano Ronaldo.’ Second, they renamed gate No.7 at Sporting Lisbon‘s home stadium, Estádio José Alvalade, to ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’ and put a small picture of him there.

YouTube video

Lastly, they will bring back a jersey from Ronaldo’s first season and add a badge that says ‘CR7’ for the new season. Manchester United player Alejandro Garnacho has already been seen wearing this new jersey to honor his idol.

FS Video

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Sporting Lisbon’s academy in 1997. Just five years later, at the age of 17, he made his professional debut in Liga Portugal during a 4-2 loss to SC Braga. His time at Sporting Lisbon was short. As a friendly match against Manchester United caught the eye of Sir Alex Ferguson. So, in 2003, Ferguson signed Ronaldo for €19 million. This made him the most expensive teenager in British football history at the time.

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Cristiano Ronaldo still performs for Al-Nassr at 38

Making his debut at 17, Cristiano Ronaldo is still going strong for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. While many consider the Middle East to be a ‘retirement league’, the Portuguese has showcased his elite mentality taking every game seriously with the aim of winning each time. The player is currently leading the race for the Golden Boot with 10 goals in 8 games in the league.

Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr
Cristiano Ronaldo (Source: via AFP)

The Portuguese star was visibly disdained when the club failed to win the league last season, falling 5 points short of eventual champions Al-Ittihad. Now with the acquisition of top European players Sadio Mane, Marcelo Brozović, and Alex Telles, Cristiano will have no other expectations than to lift the title at the end of the season.

With the club currently sitting 4 points behind league leaders Al-Hilal, a long season awaits the Portuguese. The AFC Champions League will also be on the player’s mind as he has already lifted the European variant on five different occasions. Already winning his first title with Al-Nassr, his fans do not doubt that even at the age of 38, the player’s hunger to succeed has not waned.

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