HIS fans hoped he would play forever, but Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed he is planning to retire “soon” after his daughters persuaded him to get married.
The 40-year-old forward has only just to remain at his Saudi Arabian club side .
Ronaldo and Piers Morgan during their YouTube chat
Ronaldo and Georgina, who are now engagedCredit: Alamy
But in an interview with , the five-time Ballon D’Or winner told how he has been preparing to hang up his boots for almost a decade and a half.
The Portuguese star is still banging in the goals at international level, having scored twice in his most recent game for his country.
He is also incredibly fit and looks like he has plenty of energy when on the pitch.
But the pull of family life and his plans to marry fiancée , 31, have led him to tentatively call time on an incredible 23-year career.
It will be tough, of course. Will it be difficult? Yes, probably I will cry.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Chatting to Piers on the sofa in his home in Saudi capital Riyadh, said he will be retiring soon, adding: “I think I will be prepared.
“It will be tough, of course. Will it be difficult? Yes, probably I will cry.
‘Everything has an end’
“I’m an easy guy to cry. I’m open. I’m an honest person. But I prepare my future since I was 25, 26, 27 years old. So I think I will be capable to support the pressure that could bring.”
Many former players struggle to cope with life after .
The loss of the thrill from stepping into stadiums packed with fans singing their names is tough to adjust to.
For Ronaldo, who made his professional debut aged 17 and has always trained harder than anyone else, the beautiful game has been all-encompassing.
He admits: “Nothing, I think, will compare to the adrenaline for football, to score goals, and this will have gone away.”
But he adds philosophically: “Everything has to have a beginning and everything has an end.”
And that new beginning for Ronaldo is the one of being a more dedicated father and husband.
He is dad to Cristiano Jnr, 15, and twins Mateo and Eva, eight, as well as daughters Alana, seven, and Bella, three, who he shares with Georgina.
Junior is a talented footballer who recently in a match against England.
Ronaldo says: “I will have more time for me.
“I’m going to have more time for my family, to raise my kids, especially Bella, who is three years old.
“That’s what I feel when I start to travel and stay so many days.
“I want to follow — he’s at that age where they start to do silly things.
“That’s normal, I did the same.
“I want Mateo to love football as well.
“I want to be more present.”
Football icon Ronaldo playing for Al-NassrCredit: Reuters
Ronaldo and Georgina with Cristiano Jnr, Mateo, Eva and AlanaCredit: instagram/@georginagio
Ronaldo met Spanish model Georgina in 2016 while she was working as a sales assistant in a Gucci store in .
Wedding bells have been expected for a long time.
Speaking on channel Piers Morgan Uncensored, Ronaldo said that it was his daughters who persuaded him to finally pop the question this year.
He had bought a ring with a massive diamond in it for Georgina, who he calls Gio, but only decided it would be an engagement ring when his children suggested it.
Discussing , the footballer reveals: “Gio asked me for a ring to offer her.
“It was her dream to have a good stone and finally I find one, she loves it.
“My friend gave me the ring to offer Gio, and my two girls come in and say, ‘You are going to give the ring to Mummy and you are going to be married’.
“And I knew it was right. I said yes, now is the time, because of my daughters.”
‘Love of my life’
The moment of his proposal was recorded on video by one of his friends.
But even with it being filmed, Georgina could not believe that Ronaldo was finally going to marry her.
He says, smiling: “She asked me if I speak the truth, she didn’t believe.”
Trying to explain the timing, Ronaldo goes on: “Things come at the right time.
“Sometimes you need time to realise.
“I’m going to propose to her because it is the moment, not only because she is the mother of my kids, but it is because it is the person who is the love of my life.
“I am 40 years old, nothing is going to change because we are married.
“It’s a beautiful chapter of my life.”
Ronaldo had dated a string of beautiful women in the past, including Russian model .
It is Georgina, though, who has made him want to settle down.
Ronaldo with his luxury BMW, one of his countless carsCredit: instagram @alnassr
He says: “She has so many good things I love.
“She takes care of me, she takes care of the family, she takes care of the house.
“Beautiful body and everything I like.
“She’s a person that understands me.”
No date has been set yet for the wedding.
And Ronaldo wants to wait until after next summer’s World Cup, which will take place across the , and .
His country is yet to qualify for the tournament, but they are the strong favourites from their group.
The wedding is unlikely to be a massive showbusiness affair like the one Amazon founder enjoyed this summer, with Ronaldo saying: “She is not the person who likes a big party.”
And for Ronaldo, milestones and records are no longer as important as they used to be.
In the past, he hated being substituted when there was a chance to add to his goal tally.
But with 948 goals so far, including 143 at international level, he certainly has plenty.
First football billionaire
He says: “Even if I have two goals, to be substituted is not a problem for me any more because I have scored so many hat-tricks.”
The post-football Ronaldo will find plenty of ways to occupy his time.
He says: “I have my own hobbies.
“I like to see .
“I like — it’s our main sport, me and my friends.
“I want to learn more about my companies.
“I’m a person who always wants to learn.”
It was reported last month that Ronaldo was the first footballer to become a billionaire.
The player, who is on £12million a month with Al-Nassr, has a string of businesses, including his CR7 brand, which sells underwear, aftershave and shoes.
Ronaldo is so wealthy he cannot remember how many he owns, but he has only driven once in the past six months.
He claims he actually passed the billion mark aged 39 and no longer cares about the .
Mentioning the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, he concludes: “I’m in a moment in my life when I don’t care any more about that.
“I just want to be happy.
“I want to enjoy life.
“As Carl Jung says, after the 40s you really know and you really start to live the life and that is what I start to feel.”
