Sporting CP’s crowd rose in the seventh minute at the Estádio José Alvalade on Saturday, applauding a man who was not on the pitch. The symbolism was the shirt number Ronaldo made his own, and the gesture came two days after the 41-year-old brought his 23-year Portugal career to a close with 234 caps and 146 goals.
The club he left as a teenager had also posted a message the day of the announcement, thanking him for what he did “for our Nation” and declaring him forever part of Portuguese history.
A chorus of former clubs
Manchester United, the club he joined from Sporting in 2003 and returned to in 2021, published a short tribute addressed directly to him: “Congratulations on an incredible international career, @Cristiano. Enjoy your retirement!” Juventus, where he played three seasons, used almost the same phrasing to mark “an incredible journey with Portugal.”
Al Nassr, his current employer, went longer and warmer.
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“Your name still echoes through our home. Our ambitions still reach beyond the horizon, and the story of Cristiano and Al Nassr still has the world turning pages,” the Saudi club wrote on X.
FIFA and the Ballon d’Or organisers both chimed in, the latter nodding to his “eternal legacy.” Portugal teammate Bruno Fernandes and long-time colleague Pepe filed personal statements of their own.
The silence at the Bernabéu
Real Madrid did not.
The club has not published anything on its website or official social channels, according to Voice of Emirates, which noted that the club’s silence stands in direct contrast with Sporting, Manchester United and Juventus.
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That is the club where Ronaldo spent nine seasons from 2009 to 2018, scoring 450 goals in 438 matches to become its all-time leading scorer, and where he lifted four Champions League trophies. Those goals give him more for Real Madrid than for any other club of his career.
Individual players have filled the vacuum where the institution has not. Vinícius Júnior commented “Forever number 1!!!!!” under Ronaldo’s own retirement post, and Lucas Vázquez called him the “legend of legends,” with Thibaut Courtois and Marcelo adding emoji reactions. Former captain Sergio Ramos went with: “Really…?? Hahaha. You’re a legend, bro! Enjoy the other things in life.”
Nine years, four Champions Leagues, no post
Ronaldo’s 2018 departure for Juventus was abrupt and never fully reconciled in public. His tenure powered the Bernabéu’s three-in-a-row Champions League era, and he remains the club’s record scorer by a distance.
The Portuguese Football Federation has said it will organise an official farewell, a ceremony where the fans and the country “can one more time applaud and celebrate” him. No date has been set.
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As of Monday, four days after the announcement, Real Madrid’s official channels still showed no post about the retirement of the player who scored more goals for the club than any other in its history.
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