World Cup winner makes surprising take on Cristiano Ronaldo's 'big ego'

Cristiano Ronaldo’s career has been, by any measure, pretty successful. Considered one of the best players ever, the Portuguese star recently reached the 900 goals scored, and he has won trophies both with his national team and clubs. According to World Cup winner and French star Emmanuel Petit, his “big ego” not only led him to triumph but also made him soccer’s “greatest role model.”

Petit, who played with Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea during his career, told TV Kampen (via Goal) that Ronaldo “can be considered the greatest role model in football history when you look at where he came from and where he is today at 39.”

He continued, “He came from Sporting and worked step by step to be their star player and he had that ambition to stay at the very highest level for so long. He had the ambition to break all the records and achieved that. He has a big ego, but that ego drove him every single day to be the very best he could.”

The French star, who scored a goal in the 1998 World Cup final, went on to say that he had “huge respect” for the Al Nassr star because he wants to “get to the very top but also stay there. In terms of the mental side and physical side, what an example Cristiano Ronaldo has set.”

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring Portugal’s second goal during the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 League A Group A1 match (Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)

Ronaldo, a five-time Champions League winner, has recently talked about his future, stating that he is still motivated to keep breaking records. “I want to reach 1000 goals, this is for me the most important. I want that. First 900 goals, after, my challenge is to reach 1000 goals,” he said in his recently launched YouTube channel.

What has Ronaldo said about his retirement?

Ronaldo has been clear about his desire to keep competing, both at the club level and with the national team. “When I’m [no longer] an asset I will be the first to leave. But I will go with a clear conscience, as always, because I know who I am, what I can do, what I do and what I will continue to do,” he told the press on Sep. 2 ahead of Portugal’s clash with Croatia.

“The motivation is to come to the national team to win the Nations League. […]We’ve already won it once and we want to do it again. I might say the same thing over and over again, but I don’t think long term, it’s always short term,” he said.