Jose Mourinho is backing Cristiano Ronaldo to still be scoring goals when he is 50 - if in a slightly less competitive environment.
Manchester United's former boss managed Ronaldo at Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013 and has hailed him as a 'phenomenon' in a new interview with Portuguese TV.
And in it he says he thinks the Juventus forward will still be proving his goal-scoring ability when he's invited to appear in legends matches in the future.
“What Cristiano does does not surprise me," Mourinho said. "At 34, he is a top player, who plays in a top team and has top ambitions.
“It does not surprise me because he is a case study in genetic terms, and mentality as well.
“He is a phenomenon, someone who only thinks about winning and doing it more and more and better. That is why I am not surprised at all what he does.
“When he is 50 years old he will be at home and FIFA will invite him to a game of legends. He will play the game and score a goal. I am sure it will be like that.”
Speaking about his own career, Mourinho said his best experience in management came when he was working with Ronaldo.
“Real Madrid was my best experience because of what I learned as a coach as a man and for the lessons that I took in my career and in my life," Mourinho said. "It is the best memory of my career, it was fantastic.
“What they asked me at Real Madrid suited my nature. They told me the best team in Spain was from the other side, that they were crushing us and we had to reverse the situation.
"We had to prevent Barca from crushing us and that's why the Mestalla cup (Copa del Rey) final [in 2011] is the most important.
"From there nothing was the same. We won the league, the Super Cup, but nothing was like the Cup final and I unfortunately failed to win the three Champions semi-finals.”
