Cristiano Ronaldo may be one of the best soccer players in the world, but when it comes to raising his children, the Portuguese icon has been a rather strict parent. The Al Nassr forward stated earlier that he has denied giving his eldest son Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. a mobile phone. Furthermore, he stated that he has to work hard to earn it.
While speaking about bringing up his son, Ronaldo earlier said, “I want to give him the best, but I also want him to suffer a little like I did to achieve what he wants to be.” However, Ronaldo’s 13-year-old son Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. has started to train with the Al Nassr youth team in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo’s son has now begun his career in his father’s footsteps. The 13-year-old has been training with Al Nassr’s youth academy as per recent reports. Earlier he was playing with players two years older than him at the Mahd Academy in Riyadh, as reported by the Sun. Now, as per the latest video on social media, Cristiano Jr. has been seen in training with the Al Nassr’s youth coaches.
In the video, Ronaldo Jr. can be seen doing step-overs and running drills very similar to his father. He also seems to have powerful and precise shooting abilities for his age. The video also shows him preparing to strike a dead ball with his father’s customary stance and deep breath. This further suggests that the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.
Cristiano Ronaldo Junior avec la maillot de Al Nassr !
Meanwhile, for the 38-year-old Ronaldo, life at Al Nassr this season has started positively despite some patchy results. The Portuguese star has scored 9 goals and assisted 5 in 8 games for Al Nassr across all competitions. Recently, Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid teammate compared the Portuguese legend to basketball All-Star LeBron James.
While Ronaldo’s approach to parenting is pretty strict and almost disciplinarian-like, this perhaps stems from his mindset in the dressing room, as his former Real Madrid teammate Toni Kroos revealed recently.
SAFF Roshn Saudi Pro League 2023-24 MD7 Cristiano Ronaldo looks on prior the Al-Nassr SFC vs Al-Ahli Saudi FC Match Day 7 of the SAFF Roshn Saudi Pro League 2023-24 at the King Saud University Stadium on September 14, 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Riyadh King Fahd International Stadium Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
On his podcast, Real’s Toni Kroos said, “This obsession in training. Always wanting to be the best – also having to be the best for yourself… He wasn’t satisfied when the score was 4-0 and he had only scored two goals. He was totally dissatisfied because he wanted to score his third, fourth, and fifth goals. That obsession gets the guys to where they are.” he said.
“That’s what no one sees… It’s a clear parallel to LeBron James,” Kroos added. Perhaps Ronaldo is training his son to follow his example, which is clearly evident in his parenting style and his success mantra on the pitch. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how the young Cristiano Jr. develops and whether he can achieve similar success in soccer, like his legendary father.
