CRISTIANO RONALDO – FROM RAGS TO RICHES

Today, at KhelAcademy, we will talk about one of the best players of this

generation and our long footballing history. The boy from the small town of

Madeira was born into a working-class neighborhood. He had two clear

intentions from the very beginning. One was to become not only a professional

footballer but the best footballer on the planet. The second was to become

successful and financially sound to afford an excellent standard of living for his

family, and especially his mom. For the young Portuguese, this was what he

rightly deserved, and he set out on his journey. The story of Cristiano Ronaldo

has been a constant pursuit of these goals. It is a story of determination, hard

work, and exemplification of the never say die attitude. His story is not only a

lesson on footballing greatness but also a human-interest story – how the boy

from Madeira defied odds throughout his life to become the man he is today. 

"I remember leaving home. My siblings were crying, my mother too. Even

my father was more emotional that day. But they knew it was an

opportunity I wanted in life." Ronaldo had said in an interview, recounting his

childhood days. At the tender age of 11, the Portuguese moved from Madeira to

represent the youth setup at Sporting Lisbon. From the start, Cristiano was

destined for greatness, but few would have bet on him to become the 5-time

Ballon D'Or winner he is on this Among these few, one of them was Ronaldo

himself. Even when others, including acquaintances and teammates, used to

ridicule his suggestions, it was always as clear as day for the young boy. 

Ronaldo was a head above the rest of his teammates, but he was never content,

never satisfied with his gameplay. Developing this attitude went through a

rocky road for the youngster. A clear philosophy of his was to achieve results

and do everything in his power to achieve the results – winning games was

much more important than playing "beautiful" football for him. At the end of

the day, people remember who won the trophy than the team which performed

well. This mentality gave way to his three training sessions in a day to

maintain peak fitness and performance levels. Cristiano would also avoid

parties and hanging out with friends too much, and instead dedicate his time in

the gym or resting at home. This obsession to utilize his time to the t in every

possible effort to better hone his skills has made him one of the best we've seen

in this game. 

The 35-year old always looks to experiment by implementing new routines or

more effective ways to execute training routines that make him better. After a

certain point, there is not much one can do to increase practice levels, as

everyone's body has a ceiling to tolerance. In such a scenario, quantity has to be

replaced by quality. Every session has a definite purpose that must be fulfilled.

One particular area of such focus for Ronaldo has been athleticism. With

immense technical prowess at his disposal, Cristiano was aware he needed to be

at peak athleticism to unlock his full potential. The Juventus stars' gameplay

amounts to several tackles flying his way. Building strength through extensive

muscular workouts was vital to avoiding injuries. 

Fitness is an essential aspect of any athlete's life. Ronaldo's level of fitness has

helped him execute any skill he pleases to. It's far more challenging to execute

energy-intensive maneuver when one's body is not provided with sufficient

rest. The Ballon D'Or winner uses a sleep coach to optimize sleep cycles and

makes it a point to get 8-10 hours of sleep every night. This is combined with

spending most of his time relaxing at home with his partner, Georgina

Rodriguez, and 4 kids, including Cristiano Jr., twins, and their youngest

daughter, Alana Marti. 

The moral of this story should interest not only football fans and budding

footballers but also the general public. Cristiano never gave up on his dreams,

no matter how improbable and fantastical they appeared to be. At the same

time, he kept his feet grounded and worked harder than the rest to improve his

abilities to become the goal-scoring machine he is. His story teaches us that if

you genuinely believe in yourself and risk everything for it, anything under

this whole wide sky is yours to get.