Cristiano Ronaldo’s status as one of football’s greatest ever players was cemented years ago.It was during his time at Real Madrid, where he would regularly rack up at least 50 goals a season, where the Portuguese star really emerged as a legendary talent.He’s won five Ballon d’Or awards and holds countless records. He’s an icon, there’s no debating it.“There are some things Ronaldo can do with a football that makes me touch my head and wonder how on earth he did it,” Luis Figo once assessed.We’re now in the closing stages of Ronaldo’s career so make sure you cherish every memorable moment he provides before he hangs up his boots.Amid all the goals, trophies and accolades, it’s easy to forget that Ronaldo was diagnosed with a serious knee condition called tendinosis in 2014.Based on his performances over the past six years, you wouldn’t have suspected anything was wrong with the Juventus star.
But tendinosis can be problematic. Tennis star Rafael Nadal has suffered from it, and took eight months off from the sport between 2012 and 2013 to recover.“Recovery times for tendinosis depend on the scale of the damage, but in the most severe cases could be several months,” BBC Health and Science reporter James Gallagher said after Ronaldo’s condition was confirmed.Now, a detailed Twitter thread has been posted that attempts to show the impact of tendinosis in Ronaldo’s career.“This injury is responsible for Cristiano’s sudden decline at 29, not his age,” the thread, created by Twitter user laligafrauds, claims.While that statement is debatable, the rest of the details in the thread are interesting.
The thread explains how Ronaldo’s fitness routine and diet hasn’t been able to stop the effects of tendinosis, which has resulted in his knee becoming worse every time it’s used.And the impact? In 2014/15, Ronaldo’s goals from free-kicks, long shots and solo goals was down from the previous season, while the number of headed goals he scored increased.Check out the thread here…
The thread then goes on to explore the numbers before and after the condition was confirmed.
GIVEMESPORT’s Scott Wilson says…
So it turns out that Ronaldo has been playing with one leg for the past six years. And he’s still been incredible.
In all serious, we’ll probably never know the full impact of Ronaldo’s tendinosis condition.
But considering that rest is suggested as one of the key treatments, it’s hard not think that it has affected him over the years.
Ronaldo simply hasn’t rested. He hasn’t skipped a tournament with Portugal and even disliked being benched at Real Madrid when Zinedine Zidane was just trying to preserve him.
Thankfully, the condition hasn’t forced him into an early retirement and he’s still been able to play at an incredibly high level.
He’s 35 years old now and Ronaldo probably thinks that he’ll allow his body to recover when he eventually retires.