Former French star Eric Cantona, who retired before reaching the age of 31, believes that Cristiano Ronaldo is a completely different football player from him, because the Portuguese is not ready to accept that he loses his skills with age.
Cantona, 56, starred with the French national team during the 1990s.
He is considered one of the legends of the Manchester United attack, with whom he won 4 Premier League titles, in addition to other titles in only 5 seasons (1992-1997).
Cantona said - in an interview with the newspaper "Manchester Evening News" (Manchester Evening News) - "He (Ronaldo) came back here, and Manchester United was not the same team he left, and sometimes he does not realize that things have changed, so he may be surprised that a lot of Things have changed."
He added, "I think there are two types of players at the end of their careers. Me, I decided to retire at a young age, and this is another thing. Then there is a type who wants to continue playing until the age of 40, who wants to play every match because he still thinks he is 25 years old."
And the former Manchester United star added, “And there are those who realize that they are not 25 years old. They know that they will not play every game and will play some matches, because their role is to help young players, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic who is still playing with Milan, or Ryan Giggs or Paolo Maldini. But I think Ronaldo still doesn't realize that he's not 25 anymore. He's older and he has to realize that."
"You have to accept (aging) in everything you do, not just in football. I can't run as fast as I did when I was 30, I have to accept that. I have to accept that one day I will die." .
Cantona explains that athletes have a limited lifespan in the stadiums: "You can sing until you are 80, you can act until you are 80, but footballers or athletes know that after 30 or 33 or so, it becomes more difficult physically every day. You have to Accept it, retire or say I will help the younger generation."