Cristiano Ronaldo: Is his family the secret of his success?
This Wednesday evening, Munich's Allianz Arena hosts the big showdown between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. The semi-final first leg of the Champions League is on (ZDF / Sky, 20:45 clock). Both teams are riddled with stars, but one player dominates all: Cristiano Ronaldo (33). The Portuguese presents itself in the form of his life.
In ten games, the five-time World Player of the Year has struck an incredible 15 times in the Champions League. No other player meets more often. For comparison: Bayern's top striker Robert Lewandowski (29) has netted five times in nine games so far. So where does Superstar Ronaldo only take his strength, in order to continue to call for top-notch performance in the senior football age of 33 years?
Ronaldo, the goal machine
Ronaldo is an extremely ambitious athlete. Raised in modest conditions on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Ronaldo has been booming from the youth teams of his home club Nacional Funchal over the capital city club Sporting Lisbon to the English record champions Manchester United (2003-2009). For the "Red Devils" Ronaldo scored 84 goals in 196 games. In 2009, he finally moved for the then record amount of the equivalent of 94 million euros to Real Madrid. To date, he pays back this sum with hits. His gigantic odds: 309 goals in 290 games.
His motivation despite all successes - Ronaldo is European champion, four-time Champions League winner, three-time English champion, two-time Spanish champion - continue to work hard to himself, said the model athlete last year after winning his fifth World Player title so : "I'm trying to improve and I always want to win, you have to fight for it, my motivation is still very intact, when I wake up, I'm still motivated to go to training and that's the best thing in the world . "
Ronaldo, the rude
Speaking to the French journal "France Football", he said blandly about himself: "I do not see anybody better than I. No one who can do what I can, there is no player more complete than me." He is "the best footballer in history". Ronaldo certainly does not lack self-confidence.
But he also knows that in old age it is getting harder and harder to keep the top level. "I try to be at the highest level physically, because it's important for me as a footballer, I have to be 100 percent and take that very seriously," Ronaldo told the men's magazine "GQ" in February. But today he can no longer do some things he did when he was 20 years old. "You have to make many sacrifices to be on the level I am now."
Ronaldo, the family man
In addition to his ambition and his absolute will to always get the best out of himself, there is another factor that makes him strong: his family. Ronaldo is now the father of four children. His son Ronaldo Jr. (7) as well as the twins Mateo and Eva (1) were each delivered by a surrogate mother. Daughter Alana Martina, who was born five months ago, is from his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez (24).
Ronaldo said to GQ Magazine: "On the personal level, my life is fantastic, my family is getting bigger, that really makes me very happy in my life." And that seems to inspire him in the supposed fall of his career.
In Munich, however, one hopes for this evening on no renewed flight from Ronaldo ...
