Fury warns Ronaldo: ‘No matter who you are, age will get you’

The
Portugal
captain,
who
entered
the
World
Cup
fresh
from
his
acrimonious
departure
from
Manchester
United,
has
scored
just
once
in
four
appearances
in
Qatar.

That
goal
came
from
the
penalty
spot
against
Ghana
in
his
nation’s
opening
match.

Having
been
criticised
by
head
coach
Fernando
Santos
for
his
reaction
to
being
substituted
during
the
Group
H
clash
with
South
Korea,
Ronaldo
was
then
dropped
for
Portugal’s
comprehensive
6-1
victory
over
Switzerland
in
the
last
16.

After
being
left
out
of
the
starting
line-up,
A
Selecao
have
subsequently
strongly
denied
reports
the
37-year-old
threatened
to
quit
the
squad
during
what
is
likely
to
be
his
swansong
at
the
finals.

Um
grupo
demasiado
unido
para
ser
quebrado
por
forças
externas.
Uma
nação
demasiado
corajosa
para
se
deixar
atemorizar
perante
qualquer
adversário.
Uma
equipa
no
verdadeiro
sentido
da
palavra,
que
vai
lutar
pelo
sonho
até
ao
fim!
Acreditem
connosco!
Força,
Portugal!pic.twitter.com/gUeENXSB5F

—
Cristiano
Ronaldo
(@Cristiano)

December
8,
2022

Fury
–
the
WBC
heavyweight
champion
and
a
lifelong
United
fan
–
insisted
he
empathises
with
Ronaldo,
who
he
feels
is
no
longer
at
the
peak
of
his
powers.

The
undefeated
boxer
drew
comparisons
with
his
iconic
victory
over
Wladimir
Klitschko
in
2015.

“At
the
time,
beating
Klitschko
was
the
Everest,”
Fury
told
talkSPORT.

“I
was
the
heavy
underdog,
people
thought
I
was
going
to
get
smashed
to
pieces,
and
he
was
the
unified
champion
for
11
years
and
at
some
point,
he
thought
he
was
unbeatable.

“But
I
went
over
to
Germany
and
beat
him.
In
this
game,
it’s
not
about
how
much
better
somebody
is
than
the
other
person.

“A
lot
of
it
has
to
do
with
natural
stuff,
like
age,
and
at
38
years
old,
you
are
on
the
decline
–
whether
you
want
to
admit
it
or
not.

“If
you
look
at
Cristiano
Ronaldo,
he’s
37
years
old,
he’s
had
the
best
doctors,
the
best
physiotherapists
–
he’s
lived
like
an
egg
in
Mr
Kipling’s
cake.

“But
even
Ronaldo
is
on
the
slide
now.

“So
even
someone
who
has
looked
after
himself
like
that,
it
catches
up
to
you
–
so,
imagine
a
boxer
who
has
been
punched
to
pieces
for
the
last
20
years!

“The
age
factor
will
not
wait
for
anybody,
no
matter
how
you’ve
lived.

“Whether
you’ve
never
had
a
drink
in
your
life,
if
you’ve
never
run
on
any
hard
surfaces,
no
matter
who
you
are,
age
will
get
you
eventually.”

Ronaldo
will
hope
to
be
reinstated
to
the
starting
line-up
when
Portugal
face
Morocco
in
the
quarter-finals
on
Saturday,
with
his
team
aiming
to
reach
the
semi-finals
for
only
the
third
time.