“Soon… I think I will be prepared. It will be very, very difficult.”
Cristiano Ronaldo has been tipped for a potential move into football management after his retirement, according to TalkSPORT reporting.
Speaking to Piers Morgan, the Real Madrid and Manchester United legend said he expects to retire “soon” and intends to focus on business and family life. The 40-year-old said, “I think I will be prepared. It will be very, very difficult… but everything has a beginning and everything has an end.”
While Ronaldo hasn’t expressed interest in coaching, TalkSPORT pundit Ally McCoist suggested it may not be impossible. He told Alan Brazil, “Normal circumstances you’d think, no? But that incident where he came off injured in the Euro final and was up and down the touchline as if he was coaching…”
Brazil added that the Portuguese Football Association could even consider making him “our next boss.” McCoist, however, said it would be “too big a gamble,” though Ronaldo could start “with the Under-21s… maybe Boavista or Braga.”
Ronaldo’s most famous “coaching” moment came during Euro 2016, when he directed teammates from the touchline after being injured. Manager Fernando Santos defended him, saying, “Joining with your heart to the fate of the team is always a strength, never a fault.”