Cristiano Ronaldo stadium coming soon in Lisbon
Ronaldo started his career with Sporting Lisbon and eventually became the most successful footballer that the club ever produced.
According to sources, an entire stadium in Lisbon, Portugal is about to be renamed after Cristiano Ronaldo. The Juventus forward's former club, Sporting Lisbon, is considering renaming their home stadium, which is currently called the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
The 34-year old football phenomenon started his professional career with Sporting Lisbon. It is the same stadium where Ronaldo's skills against Manchester United were noticed by Sir Alex Ferguson. It is also the venue that saw Ronaldo completing his 699th career goal last Friday. Now that the club authorities are considering to put Ronaldo's name in front of the stadium, football fans around the world are excited.
Sporting Lisbon club president Frederico Verandas said, "Cristiano is, and always will be, one of the major symbols of the history of our club. We're proud to be associated with Cristiano Ronaldo and that the name of the best player in the world goes hand in hand with Sporting."
The current name of the stadium has been around since 1956, the time when the stadium was built. The 50,000-capacity stadium has an illustrious history associated with it. It was originally named after Jose Alvalade, who was the founder of the club. He became Sporting Lisbon's first member in 1906.
Sporting supporters had mixed reactions once the news broke out. Alvalade was a Harvard Medical School student, who gave up a lucrative career to take on the responsibility of being the club's vice-president. Later, according to the Sun, he became the club president in 1910. However, just four years later, Alvalade had to leave Lisbon because of a disagreement with the club directors. At the age of just 33 in 1918, Alvalade took his last breath.
Alvalade's name still shines outside the stadium as way to honour the club's founder. Some Sporting fans cannot believe that the club's legacy could be tampered with just because a former club footballer scored almost 700 career goals and won 5 Ballon d'Or trophies.
As we speak, Ronaldo already has a galaxy named after him. He also has hotels, statues, a museum, and an airport under his name.
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