Cristiano Ronaldo started his career with Sporting Lisbon before moving to Manchester United where he started to become really famous. However, he could have stopped playing football despite being a youngster in Portugal.
He was born on the island of Madeira, in February 1985, and reportedly felt sick and homesick when he moved 535 miles away from home at the age of 12. The more prominent reason was that he was constantly bullied at Sporting.
Cristiano Ronaldo could’ve ended career before it even started
The player was constantly teased about his Madeiran accent, and cried every day because he missed his family and friends back home. The story arises from the book Messi vs Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World’s Game.
Being so young, Cristiano Ronaldo struggled to control his emotions and started lashing out at his peers. He was involved in a series of altercations, and also threw a chair at one of his teachers who made fun of his accent.
At a young age, he was prevented from lifting weights and overtraining. But, Ronaldo found a creative way to stay in the fold and build his explosive power.
His eventual £12 million move to Manchester United wasn’t perfect either, due to the bust-up with Ruud van Nistelrooy. However, he eventually started to grow his love for football, upon developing the lethal partnership with Wayne Rooney.