Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to Al-Nassr pre-season training sporting a dramatic ginger buzz cut with a high skin fade, just days after marrying his long-term partner Georgina Rodriguez in an intimate civil ceremony in Portugal.
The 41-year-old forward replaced his signature black, slicked-back hair with the short trim, drawing comparisons to his former Manchester United team-mate Paul Scholes. Ronaldo was pictured back on the pitch preparing for the upcoming season under new Al-Nassr manager Ange Postecoglou, training alongside team-mates Sadio Mane and Kingsley Coman.
The Portuguese international has entered the final year of his £488,000-a-day contract with the Saudi Pro League side, having led Al-Nassr to their first Saudi Pro League title last season. Ronaldo is aiming to reach the 1,000 career goal milestone, currently standing at 976 goals for club and country.
Private wedding ceremony in Cascais
The dramatic haircut comes immediately after Ronaldo married Rodriguez on Tuesday in a private civil ceremony in Cascais, a coastal town in Portugal. The couple tied the knot after ten years together and one year after their engagement, with their five children present for the occasion.
Ronaldo announced the marriage by sharing a photograph of their wedding bands on Instagram. A representative for Ronaldo confirmed the union, stating: "Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez were married today in a civil ceremony in Cascais, Portugal, and are now officially husband and wife. The ceremony was a private and intimate moment attended by their five children."
Church confusion in Funchal
The news of the private wedding followed confusion earlier in the week when thousands of supporters gathered outside Funchal Cathedral in Madeira, expecting the couple to wed there. However, the cathedral gathering turned out to be for an entirely unconnected local Portuguese couple, Fabio Ramos and Fatima Nicole Cunha Teixeira.
Ronaldo and Rodriguez first met in 2016 when she was working as a £10-an-hour sales assistant at a Gucci boutique in Madrid. Recalling their initial encounter in her Netflix documentary series I Am Georgina, Rodriguez said: "I was finally able to leave the shop to go home three hours later than I should have and as I was getting ready to leave Cristiano came in with his eldest son and some friends. Let's just say it was butterflies in my stomach."
Following their initial meeting, Ronaldo began picking Rodriguez up after her work shifts in his £1.5million Bugatti luxury supercar, after she had arrived at the shop on the bus. Rodriguez recalled: "Many times he'd come after work. He would come, I remember once, once in a Bugatti. My coworkers went crazy. They get there on the bus, and I would leave in a Bugatti. I mean people couldn't believe it."
Relationship timeline and family life
By December 2016, Rodriguez quit her retail position after crowds of fans began gathering outside the Madrid store. The couple made their first official public appearance together in January 2017 at The Best FIFA Football Awards, before making their relationship Instagram official in March 2017 with a photograph on a couch.
The family expanded rapidly later that year. In June 2017, Ronaldo welcomed surrogate twins Mateo and Eva. Five months later, in November 2017, Rodriguez gave birth to their daughter Alana Martina. The couple revealed they chose her name jointly, with Ronaldo choosing Alana and Rodriguez choosing Martina, saying: "We both chose the name. Cristiano chose Alana and I chose Martina. We decided to give her both names that each of us chose. We thought it was even more special." Rodriguez later appeared on the cover of HOLA! magazine with newborn Alana in December 2017.
In 2022, the couple suffered tragedy during the birth of their second set of twins, when their baby boy died during childbirth while his twin sister, Bella Esmeralda, survived. Speaking to journalist Piers Morgan about coping with the grief, Ronaldo said: "I feel that we always support each other. Sometimes it's like in a relationship you have good moments, bad moments it is part of the journey. But probably in that period, we consolidated it more, the relationship, but even in the worst moments you have to meet, you have to make the thing smooth."
Ronaldo added: "I learned so many things. I saw the other perspective of the life. My daughter, now who is three years old, she is the queen of the family, who made the house happy. Everything happens for a reason. I believe in that. So, we are a blessed family. I am proud of that."
Proposal and engagement details
Before popping the question, Ronaldo had previously addressed fan questions about marriage in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca last year, explaining that he was waiting for the right moment: "I always tell her, 'when we get that click'. Like everything with our life, and she knows what I'm talking about. It could be in a year or it could be in six months or it could be in a month. I'm 1000 per cent sure that it'll happen."
Engagement speculation peaked in July after Rodriguez shared photos of a bridal-themed dinner featuring "C heart G" pillows, a six-piece band, white floral arrangements, and a large ring. Ronaldo officially proposed in August with an estimated £1.5million diamond ring, prompting Rodriguez to share a picture of the ring on Instagram with the caption: "Yes I do. In this and in all my lives."
Ronaldo later revealed to Piers Morgan that the proposal occurred around 1:00 am at home while his daughters slept, prompted unexpectedly when his children walked in while a friend handed him the ring. Ronaldo recalled: "One of my friends gave me the ring to offer Gio and as I was giving her the ring, my two kids come in and say 'Daddy, you're going to give the ring to mum and you're going to ask her to get married.' I said, 'Wow, this is the right moment to say yes.'"
Ronaldo added: "It was simple, I'm not a very romantic guy. Well, I am, but I'm not very romantic, not the kind of guy who brings flowers every week to the home. But I'm romantic in my way. It was beautiful and I knew that it's the woman of my life so I did that and I hope that I did it well." When asked at the time about wedding plans, he joked: "Not yet. We plan to do it after the World Cup with the trophy!"
