Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed the real reason for his new look.
Ronaldo was sporting the early stages of a goatee beard when he took to the pitch for Portugal's 1-0 victory over Morocco on Wednesday afternoon and speculation soon gathered momentum about the possible reason for his new facial hair.
It had been suggested that the Portugal captain was alluding to his status as the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) by growing a goatee, having celebrated his opening goal against Spain last week by rubbing his chin, but it turns out Ronaldo didn't put quite as much thought into it as some believed.
The Real Madrid superstar has revealed that the decision to leave his goatee grow came from a conversation with Portugal teammate Ricardo Quaresma.
"This goatee? It's a joke I had with Quaresma," Ronaldo said in his post-match interview.
https://twitter.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/1009449852558888961
"We were in the sauna [before Friday's match against Spain] and I started to shave and I left the goatee - I said if I score tomorrow I would leave it for the rest of the tournament. And it gave me luck, I scored that game, I scored this one, so it stays."
The header against Morocco lifted Ronaldo above Ferenc Puskás in the list of all-time international goalscorers, leaving him in second place behind Iran legend Ali Daei, who scored 109 goals between 1993 and 2006.
