"119 years of making Portugal proud" - Cristiano Ronaldo shares throwback pic in Sporting CP kit to celebrate club's anniversary

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo shared a picture of himself in a Sporting CP jersey from the early 2000s to celebrate the club's 119th anniversary. The 40-year-old made a post on social media to commemorate the milestone.

Sporting CP are widely considered one of the best clubs in Portugal. They are the third-most successful club in the country, having won 21 Liga Portugal titles and 56 major trophies overall.

Ronaldo came up through the ranks at Sporting's academy before joining the senior team in 2002. He spent just one season with the first-team squad, notching five goals and six assists in 31 appearances across all competitions.

He was quickly snapped up by Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, where he blossomed into a world-beating superstar. He dominated English and European football, winning his first Ballon d'Or title in 2008.

Ronaldo went on to join Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2009 for a then-record transfer fee of £80 million. At Santiago Bernabeu, he delivered scintillating performances, becoming one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.

Following his spell with Los Blancos, he moved to Juventus and subsequently returned to United, before joining Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr on a free transfer in January 2023. The Portuguese legend has been ageing like fine wine with the Knights of Najd and recently signed a contract extension that would keep him at the club until he turns 42.

Arguably the greatest graduate of Sporting CP's academy, Ronaldo made a post celebrating the club's 119th anniversary on Tuesday (July 1). The post read (translated into English from Portuguese):

"119 years of making Portugal proud. Congratulations my Sporting CP!"

"We want to see you better" - When Cristiano Ronaldo reminisced about how he was recruited by Sporting CP

Legendary forward Cristiano Ronaldo was born in Madeira, a small Portuguese island off the coast of Morocco.

As a seven-year-old, he joined the academy of local side Andorinha, before joining the academy of one of two Liga Portugal sides in Madeira - CD Nacional. Eventually, he attracted attention from the top sides in the mainland, especially Sporting, who sent scouts to watch him in action.

Reminiscing how he was recruited by the Leoes in a video for Unscriptd titled 'The Moment I Knew', Ronaldo said (via Bleacher Report):

"I remember when I was in Madeira and Sporting Lisbon said, 'Listen, we want to see you better. You should come to Lisbon because we want to observe you,'" he said. And I remember my first training I did something and the players looked at me like 'Woah, can you do it again?' Even the coach!"

The Portugal captain joined Sporting's academy in 1997, graduated to their first team in 2002, and went on to become one of the greatest players in football history.

Edited by Sankalp Srivastava