Sporting Lisbon considering changing name of the home stadium after academy grown legend Cristiano Ronaldo, in order to honour him.
Cristiano Ronaldo has reached the epitome of the footballing world with his illustrious career of 17 years and the Portuguese International is still going strong and the age of 34, he is still at the top of his game.
Ronaldo started his career at Sporting Lisbon, where he spent 6 years including a season with the senior team and rest with the academy. At that time, the lean boy with jaw-dropping skill-set was deemed to touch heights.
But nobody knew that the boy from Madeira will one day become one of the greatest players to ever grace the game. Hence, Ronaldo certainly has left a legacy at his boyhood club even though he was there for a brief period of time at senior level.
Sporting president Frederico Varandas has confirmed that the club is considering to change from the current name of the stadium- Estadio Jose Alvalade, after Ronaldo.
“It is an idea that we do not put aside and one of which we would obviously be very proud of,” Varandas told Tuttosport.
“Cristiano is – and always will be – one of the greatest symbols of our club’s history. We are proud to be associated with Cristiano Ronaldo and that the name of the best footballer in the world is combined with Sporting.
“As far as our young people are concerned, we are trying to keep his example inside the academy,” he concluded.
Ronaldo has been a symbol at Sporting Lison, with fans showing pride over their player’s achievements. Especially, when Ronaldo cruised Portugal to Euro Cup victory, the first silverware of the nation.
Whilst, Ronaldo further went onto win leagues in three countries, i.e, England, Spain and Italy and also winning 5 Champions League medals in the process. Even after all this, Ronaldo is not ready to stop.