Joao Cancelo Explains Why Cristiano Ronaldo Has Past His “Peak”

Portuguese footballer, Joao Cancelo, has explained that the country’s football icon, Cristiano Ronaldo, has passed his peak based on his current age.

Joao Cancelo, who lost his place at Manchester City as he was forced to go on loan at Bayern Munich and then FC Barcelona, said Cristiano Ronaldo’s dominance in football expired after 15 years reign alongside his career rival, Lionel Messi.

According to the 29-year-old fullback, the peak year of a footballer starts at 25 years old and ends at 32 years old.

Note that Cristiano Ronaldo is currently 39 years old, but he is still consistently scoring goals for his club, Al Nassr of the Saudi Pro League, and his country, Portugal.

Ronaldo finished the 2022-2023 season as the highest goalscorer in the world, scoring 54 goals for club and country.

Ahead of the March international break, Portugal’s head coach, Roberto Martínez, decided not to invite Ronaldo to his squad. Reports claimed that the coach wanted the five-time Ballon d’Or winner to have some rest.

Hence, the Al Nassr striker is expected not to be available when Portugal take on Sweden on Thursday, March 21. Reports claimed that Ronaldo might join the team before their friendly game against Slovenia on Tuesday, March 26.

While appearing on Portuguese radio, Joao Cancelo made it clear that the national team doesn’t depend on Ronaldo anymore, but he is still important to the team.

Cancelo said; “He is an important player and spent 15 years competing with Messi for the Ballon d’Or, but the peak of a footballer’s career is between the ages of 25 and 32.

“He (Ronaldo) is an important player for us, but the national team does not depend entirely on him”.

At the time of writing, Ronaldo, who was snapped having fun with his girlfriend, Georgina Rodríguez, at a beach in the Middle East during the ongoing international break, had yet to react to Cancelo’s comments.