Cristiano Ronaldo Could Add Another Glory To His Legacy

Cristiano Ronaldo’s first club Sporting CP is considering honoring the legendary figure by renaming their stadium after him.

After he left Sporting CP in 2003, nobody knew what legacy Ronaldo was bound to make in soccer.

However, Manchester United certainly must have seen a lot in Ronaldo and broke the record transfer fee for a teenager to sign him 18-year-old. Three years later, the Portuguese superstar exploded as he scored 23 goals in a season and a massive 42 the year after to win the Ballon d'Or for the first time.

Ronaldo won four more Ballons d'Or and also became the first Portuguese captain to lift an international trophy when his country won EURO 2016, a accomplishment he repeated with the Nations League in 2019, Give Me Sport noted.

All told, Sporting CP has been convinced that naming their stadium after their legendary product is all worth it. According to AS, the 50,000-capacity Estádio José Alvalade could be rechristened to either “Cristiano Ronaldo Arena” or the “CR7 Arena” to honor the soccer icon’s contributions to the sport.

Sporting president Federico Varandas provided more details pertaining to the club’s idea about renaming its stadium. According to Varandas, they are not ruling out the said idea and in fact, they are very proud of being part of what Ronaldo has become.

"It's an idea that we're not ruling out, and one we'd be very proud of," Varandas told the Italian media outlet Tuttosport.

Varandas added that it would also be an honor for the club if Sporting CP’s name will be associated with Ronaldo’s legacy.

"Cristiano is, and always will be, one of the major symbols of the history of our club. We're proud to be associated with Cristiano Ronaldo and that the name of the best player in the world goes hand in hand with Sporting," Varandas added.

What Sporting is planning to do is something that has never been done for a long period of time. For over 60 years, the stadium’s name has not been changed in any kind of way. Estádio José Alvalade, which is the stadium's current name, pays tribute to the Lisbon club's founder. Even after the arena was remodelled ahead of the following year's European Championship in 2003, it has gone unchanged since the ground was originally built in 1956. This only means that putting Ronaldo’s name on it will definitely be something that the club will remember for generations.