Udinese Striker Beto Narrates Journey From KFC to Serie A, Dreams of Playing With Ronaldo

• Portuguese striker Beto is tearing it up for Serie A club Udinese after making his loan permanent
• He had a rough road to his current status having previously worked at KFC to support himself
• Beto's dream is to represent his country and play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in the national team

Udinese striker, Beto's earlier struggles in football paid off and he finds himself in the top flight of Italian football, dreaming of one day representing his home country of Portugal.

The 25-year-old had a nomadic youth career shuffling between Uniao Tires, whom he represented in three different spells, and both Benfica and Oeiras.

He is now a subject of transfer interest from the Premier League.

Relegation strugglers, Everton missed out on him in the January transfer window and are ready to go for him again in the summer for £22 million, as reported by The Boot Room.

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Football

Beto: KFC to Serie A

In an exclusive interview with Goal, Beto revealed his most heartbreaking moment was getting released by Benfica at the age of 12.

Still, he never gave up as he considered himself to have the attributes to make it as a footballer.

At one point, he was playing in the fifth tier of Portuguese football at 18 and also working at a KFC outlet to support himself. He made a bet with his teammates that he would make it as a professional in five years - and he did it in four.

Beto attributes his successes to his positive menality.

"I thought, 'I'm tall, I'm strong, I'm fast - and you can't train these things'. If you're slow, you'll always be slow. So, I thought, 'I have these skills - the techniques and the intelligence of the game, these things I can learn and improve'. So, from there, with this self-confidence, I started to develop."

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Beto dreams of Ronaldo pairing

The 1.93 metre tall striker, who idolises African legend, Samuel Eto'o, was named in Portugal's preliminary World Cup squad but did not make the final cut.

He also talked about representing the Selecao and playing with Cristiano Ronaldo.

''I know they're following me now, but I mustn't think too much about the national team. I'm close, yes... But I just have to focus on Udinese for now because if I keep doing well here, they'll call me,'' he said.

Martinez's demands from Ronaldo

Beto's opportunity to play with Ronaldo could come in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, with more players certain to be featured for Portugal.

New manager, Roberto Martinez had only two new faces in the squad for his first games in charge but said this would be changing.

The Selecao boss has also demanded that veteran, Ronaldo helps the country win the tournament, as Sports Brief previously reported.