'Simply beautiful to watch' - Cristiano Ronaldo 'still in the elite' at Al-Nassr as ex-Real Madrid team-mate hails CR7 as a 'great example' for younger generation

The Portuguese icon will be celebrating a notable birthday on February 5. There is no sign of him slowing down, with the goals continuing to flow for a man that is targeting 1,000 before any thought is given to retirement. Whenever that day comes, CR7 has earned immortality as a sporting GOAT.

Adebayor worked alongside Ronaldo during a spell at Real Madrid, allowing him to experience what makes the legendary forward special and how his relentless pursuit of perfection took him to the very top of the game and kept him there for more than two decades.

Abebayor has told Optus Sport of working with Ronaldo and why, in his opinion, the Portugal international is the best to ever do it: “Okay, this is my first session, so I'll go at 8:30 or so and I'll be about two hours early. I arrived at 8:45. All the lights were off, the room was dark, so I was happy, ‘thank God, I'm the first one to arrive here, they will see that I am a professional, they will say that I am diligent’. But then I heard something, a noise in the background. I was like, what's going on? It was my first training session and I didn't know the facilities yet. I asked one of the physiotherapists what was going on downstairs. And he told me that Cristiano Ronaldo was there. I was like, 'Oh, come on, man, this guy’... In the end I was second.

“I went to see him and he said: 'Oh, Emmanuel, nice to meet you, how are you?'. He also told me that he would be with me, that he would help me and that I should tell him if I needed anything. I realised that he was there much earlier. I asked him what time he would arrive and he replied that at 7:30. I said: 'Okay, thanks, good luck, I'll see you later, bye’.”

Ex-Arsenal and Manchester City striker Adebayor added: “Training started at 10:30 and you arrive at 7:30. To do what? Three or four hours early! I told myself to leave him in his own world, so that he could enjoy football and his career. And today he is 40 years old, still in the elite, playing football, at the top... It is simply beautiful to watch. A great example.”

Adebayor only spent a few months at Santiago Bernabeu, on loan from City, but went on to say of that spell giving him a chance to take inspiration from Ronaldo: “For me, having the opportunity to play with him, even if it's only for six months… And he knows the respect I have for his mentality, for the person, for the character he has. He always wanted to be the best. And for me, that's incredible.”

Ronaldo, who hit 50 goals for Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr last season, has taken his haul for the 2024-25 campaign to 19 through 22 appearances. He is expected to prolong his career through to at least the 2026 World Cup finals.