BRAGA: The Portugal soccer team are making a change to how the No. 7 is written to honor the recently-retired Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo, who wore the number and went on to make it his own as “CR7,” retired from international soccer last week, ending a remarkable career that spanned six World Cups, a European title, and the men’s all-time international scoring record.
“Time to debut a new 7. Because there’s one that will be eternal,” the Portuguese national team wrote on social media on Saturday. The post included a goat emoji to signify “Greatest Of All Time.”
They also included a video that showed a horizontal crossed line through the No. 7 as it’s commonly written in Europe, suggesting that Ronaldo’s successors will all have that cross to bear when they wear the number.
Carlos Forbs, the first No. 7 since Ronaldo’s retirement, didn’t start Saturday’s Nations League match against Denmark. Portugal were already assured of reaching the quarterfinals.
There were tributes to Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, before the match, when all the Portugal players and the children who accompanied them on the field wore his No. 7 jerseys.
A huge banner saying “OBRIGADO CAPI7ÃO” (thanks captain with a 7 where the T should be), with pictures of Ronaldo celebrating, emphasized the message.
