Chinanews.com, Beijing, December 31st, title: Cristiano Ronaldo in the middle-aged crisis went to West Asia, and his story may also have you and me
The "year-end joke" ridiculed by Ronaldo's relatives eventually became the "year-end bomb" that "detonated" world football.
On December 31, Beijing time, Saudi Riyadh Victory Club officially announced that the team successfully signed a contract with Portuguese striker Ronaldo, who will play for the team until 2025.
Ronaldo joins Riyadh Victory.
Image source: Riyadh Victory Club social media accounts
Riyadh Victory wrote in an official statement: "We are making history. This signing will inspire not only our club to greater success, but our league, our country and generations to come."
So far, Ronaldo has temporarily ended his journey to play in the five major European leagues.
In the past twenty years, he started from Sporting Lisbon, then joined Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, and grew from a young boy to a football superstar step by step.
With the official announcement of the Riyadh Victory Club, Saudi football and even Asian football ushered in a new era, but a generation of stars standing at the top of world football had to bid farewell to the world's highest level stadium and the glory created in the past.
In the upcoming 2023 and beyond, Ronaldo will continue to wear the No. 7 jersey on the green field, but he is far away from the mainstream and cannot gallop in the top European leagues.
Ronaldo said in an interview: "I am very lucky. I have won everything I want to win in European football." Five-time Ballon d'Or winner, five-time World Footballer, five-time Champions League champion 701 club goals, including 140 Champions League goals, which is the most in Europe. Every data has witnessed every step of his climb to the top.
"I'm looking forward to experiencing a new league in a different country... I think it's the right time for me to share my experience in Asia." Compared to the expectations of joining a new team, Ronaldo's words Behind it, there may be compromises, even more unwillingness.
Just a week ago, Ronaldo and his family were still trying their best to deny the rumors of joining the West Asian team. His sister even called it a "year-end joke" on social media.
But like a person who drinks water, he knows whether he is warm or not.
In the past, Ronaldo may never have worried about his future. When he really stood at the crossroads of his twilight career, the future was difficult to choose, and the fact was even more cruel.
There have been rumors about Ronaldo's next stop before the start of the World Cup.
When he gave interviews without Manchester United's consent and publicly criticized the team, and finally broke up with the once close team, the end may have already been sealed.
20 days ago, Ronaldo's tears became the last mark of his heartbreak left in the World Cup in Qatar; 20 days later, he was about to land in the West Asian League, but the last period of his stay in European football was "a chicken feather".
After the quarter-finals of the World Cup were eliminated, the controversy and sarcasm of Ronaldo reached its peak in public opinion, which was in stark contrast to the praise when he set one record after another a few years ago.
Under the heavy attention, Ronaldo once went to the Real Madrid club for training, bringing back the infinite reverie of returning to the passionate years of fluttering white clothes.
In order to be able to join a team with enough competitiveness, he even lowered his posture, saying that "in order to be able to play in the Champions League, money is not considered".
But in the end, the rumors that the fans expected fell into the sea, and the fact that they denied it many times fell to the ground.
No top European team can accommodate a new No. 7 who is almost 38 years old, even though he was once the king of the field.
In the Qatar World Cup, Portugal's first match against Ghana, Ronaldo was in tears during the national anthem before kick-off.
In the movie "The True Colors of a Hero", Song Zihao once had a classic dialogue with Chow Yun-fat's "Little Brother":
"Do you believe in God?"
"Believe me, I am God, God is also human, and the one who can control his own destiny is God."
"Sometimes, you can't master it even if you want to master it."
"There are winners and losers in 'gambling'."
Some people say that if Ronaldo did not return to Manchester United, would the ending be like this?
If he can stand at the top of the Champions League with the Bianconeri, if he has not left Madrid, the sweetness and glory with Real Madrid will last longer... But if there is nothing if, this is the cruelty of competitive sports.
Obviously, Ronaldo, who broke with Manchester United and re-entered the free market, chose to gamble and did not get the results he wanted, but leaving Europe and going to West Asia, it is difficult to draw an accurate conclusion about his decision to win or lose.
Some are just the sighs of the hero's twilight, and even more sighs because it is Ronaldo.
Three months ago, Ronaldo raised his club goals to 700 goals
Last season, Ronaldo also won silver boots in the world's strongest league; in April this year, he was even able to perform a hat-trick; three months ago, he raised his club's goals to 700 and continued to lead the list.
Because of this, when the news of his departure from the European League was settled, it was even more shocking and sudden to the fans.
After all, the 41-year-old Ibrahimovic is still playing well in Serie A.
What caused the current situation?
Ronaldo's maverick character?
Insistence on the main position?
The ultimate desire for victory and glory?
This is the "cause" that Ronaldo was able to create countless brilliance in the past, and it has also produced the embarrassing "fruit" today.
Some people say that in the era of Messi and Ronaldo, maybe Modric finally broke the monopoly of the two on the Ballon d'Or four years ago; maybe finally Messi won the Hercules Cup in Qatar, who is the number one player in today's football The debate will eventually be settled.
But as Ronaldo left West Asia, where Raul, Harvey and other stars have settled down, the stars who lead the era will inevitably end up in the same way. The final chapter of the magnificent epic of the peerless twins has been written.
Longing, hard work, brilliance, controversy, helplessness... This is the story of a young man in Madeira.
He was free and unrestrained when he was young, and rose to fame when he was young, but he couldn't help himself when he was middle-aged.
This kind of story is magnificent, and you and me may also be seen in this kind of story.
(use up)