Hitting middle age: Why Cristiano Ronaldo should retire right now

Today marks Cristiano Ronaldo's 40th birthday. Despite consistently scoring goals in the Saudi Pro League, the signs are there that now is the time for this legend of the game to hang up his boots.

Last year, Ronaldo missed a stoppage-time penalty for Al Nassr in a 1-0 loss to Al Taawoun in the Saudi King's Cup in the Round of 16. His miss means his trophy hunt in Saudi Arabia continues. He has failed to win one in two years there. The uncharacteristic miss, and lack of trophies during his time in Saudi tell us he needs to consider retiring.

Ronaldo has had one of, if not the greatest careers in football history, but now, it's time for him to call it a day.

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The calls for his retirement came from another cup game. On August 17th 2024, his Al Nassr side lost to Al Hilal 4-1 in the Saudi Super Cup. Ronaldo, 39 at the time, was seen sulking and abusing teammates for their performances during the game.

Per reports from TalkSport, Ronaldo was seen storming off the pitch following the match, with the Portuguese not even waiting to collect his runners-up medal.

Whilst Ronaldo's skill has been waning for some time, he was still his side's only goalscorer on the night, netting his 897th professional goal. He has now scored 923.

Al Hilal stormed back, scoring four goals in a row to comfortably win the match, with Ronaldo seen to be suggesting his teammates were asleep with a gesture following one of the goals.

Ronaldo has always been a famously bad loser, with his competitive spirit being a key reason behind his success. However, in the past, his skills were so high that he could often drag teams to wins by himself. Now, no longer at his peak, that ability has deserted him, making his demanding attitude seem more like petulance.

Michael Lee for Planet Football has even gone so far as to claim the Saudi league has "broken" Ronaldo following his embarrassing display during the Super Cup.

Ronaldo's latest sulk came after a disastrous Euro 2024 campaign in which the Real Madrid legend failed to score, and led to Dietmar Hamann calling his performances, "one of the most outrageous acts of selfishness I have ever seen in a team game," per Goal.

Ronaldo did confirm that Euro 2024 will be his last, which is presumably a relief for his national teammates, but Rio Ferdinand has claimed the former United man is looking to carry on playing domestic football for some time yet.

Ronaldo's former teammate at Manchester United told his podcast 'Rio Reacts,' "He ain't going nowhere. And I was gobsmacked. And listen, you'll see it in time, but minimum three years I think he plays for again."

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Perhaps Ronaldo's desire to continue is fuelled by having a specific goal or target in mind. Whether that is reaching 1000 professional goals, or ensuring he won't be overtaken by long-term rival Lionel Messi, we aren't sure, but at this point, he is arguably a net negative to his team, so maybe he needs to put his personal ambitions to one side (for once) and call time on his legendary career.