Cristiano Ronaldo: Why Portuguese Superstar Nearly Quit Football Before Manchester United Breakthrough

• At some point in his young career, Cristiano Ronaldo considered quitting football
• Before his major break, Ronaldo struggled with homesickness and loneliness
• He is currently widely considered the greatest ever football player to ever live

Cristiano Ronaldo was once on the verge of ending his football career as early as it started because of a number of factors, including homesickness.

Before he was the household name people know and love today, Ronaldo was a simple boy from Madeira, Portugal, who had big dreams of playing football at top level.

Ronaldo’s first major break was when he was absorbed by Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon to develop in the club’s academy.

But in a recently published book, it has been claimed that Ronaldo almost did not go forward with his career as he struggled to blend in with his fellow kids at the time.

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He joined the Sporting academy aged 12, and the first few years were extremely tough for him.

As per the newly-published book Messi vs Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, Ronaldo struggled with a number of things including being teased for his heavy accent, getting into bust-ups in the schoolyard, and crying every day because he missed his parents and siblings who were back in Madeira.

The Sun further reports that Ronaldo actually considered leaving it all just before he made it to the first team.

He was also under fire from the Sporting directors, who threatened to send him home if he did not adjust his attitude.

His absentism from class and bad grades were also a cause for concern, but it was eventually agreed that he would drop his academics and focus solely on football.

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Ronaldo once threw a chair

Sports Brief also earlier reported on how Ronaldo's anger issues got so bad as a teenager that he once hurled a chair at his teacher.

Because of his immense love for his family, Ronaldo, according to his biography, once threw a chair at his teacher after the teacher made remarks about the financial situation of his parents.

The teacher reportedly made fun of the young Ronaldo's family and how they were struggling to get by on a day-to-day basis.

It turns out that Cristiano Ronaldo’s expulsion from school proved to be the turning point in his life as he decided to put aside books to solely focus on football.