Everyone has an idol that has inspired them to do what they do or an individual that they wish they could have been in another life.
Bettors might not have idols when it comes to placing wagers, however they should still look for the best options available and checking out websites for the best betting sites 2020 is always a great start.
Many kids in the world will always look to replicate what certain footballers are doing on the pitch whilst playing with their friends and family in the back garden or in the park, and footballers themselves are no different to everybody else, even if they seem as if they are.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of today’s young footballers have looked up to one individual – Cristiano Ronaldo. Indeed, the Portugal international is an icon in the game and will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest to have ever played the sport.
The superstar is not just a talented individual on the pitch, though, as he appears incredibly humble off it which might just make him all the more appealing as an inspirational figure.
As mentioned, there are a plethora of individuals to have taken inspiration from CR7 and have looked to take their own games to the next level. In fact, with the players who have been inspired by Ronaldo, it is perhaps scary just what effect that has had on individuals.
Erling Braut Haaland and Kylian Mbappe are two of the world’s best young strikers at the moment and both men have revealed they have looked up to CR7 throughout their childhood, whereas defender Matthijs de Ligt and Bruno Fernandes are just a few others to say they have followed the Portuguese on and off the field.
Here is a list of some of those individuals (thanks to GiveMeSport) and what they have said about CR7:
Erling Braut Haaland:
“I would love to meet him and tell him that I am a footballer thanks to him. For me, he was always a role model.”
Marcus Rashford:
“For me there is no bigger inspiration in football,” he told Man Utd’s official website in 2018.
“I could speak for a lot of young players and United fans that watched the team when he was here and the majority of us have followed him as he’s moved on in his career and that’s what’s special about United.”
Matthijs de Ligt
“We came to the conclusion that I always wanted to be Cristiano Ronaldo when we were playing football in the garden,” De Ligt told Dutch magazine VI, per talkSPORT. “That was especially in his time when he played at Manchester United.
“My first football shirt also belonged to him from that time.”
Joao Felix
“Cristiano is my childhood idol, he is an example in everything for me,” Felix told Record in 2019. “I was still a child and he was already the best player in the world. He is unique.
“He is making football history. I loved it when he said I was a phenomenon.”
Harry Kane
“I asked for his shirt,” Kane said after a Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Tottenham in 2017. “He’s a big role model of mine, watching him when I was growing up.
“It’s a nice shirt to get and frame. I gave him my shirt. I don’t know what he’ll do with it.”
Justin Kluivert
“For what he is on and off the pitch, my idol is Cristiano Ronaldo,” he told DAZN, per Goal. “I’ve admired him since I was a child and I still follow him, but I don’t have a photo with him.”
