Video: Sheikh Hamdan, Cristiano Ronaldo hit the gym in Dubai

Dubai - Ronaldo is the overwhelming favourite to win the Player of the Century trophy in Sunday’s Dubai Globe Soccer Awards

Cristiano Ronaldo is in town. The football icon, who will be the biggest attraction in Sunday’s Dubai International Sports Conference and Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, shared his picture with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, on Thursday.

“Always a pleasure to see you bro,” Ronaldo wrote on Instagram on Thursday as he posed with Sheikh Hamdan in a Dubai gym.

Sheikh Hamdan also posted a video of which he can be seen exercising with Ronaldo. Meanwhile, social media users posted a video of a vehicle special plate – CR 7 which is the initials of Cristiano Ronaldo and his soccer shirt number.

Ronaldo is the overwhelming favourite to win the Player of the Century trophy in Sunday’s Dubai Globe Soccer Awards, having got the lion’s share of the fans vote.

The winners will be announced on Sunday at the glittering event.

Ronaldo will also share his experience of achieving remarkable success at the highest level in the Dubai International Sports Conference.

Other prominent guests in the conference include Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.

Lewandowski is also the favourite to win the Player of the Year trophy at the Globe Soccer Awards, having scored 55 goals for Bayern Munich last season.

Meanwhile, Iker Casillas, one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of football, has also confirmed his presence as a speaker for this year’s Dubai International Sports Conference, which will take place at Armani Hotel in Burj Khalifa, under the theme “Football at the Top”.

Casillas will join Ronaldo and Lewandowski on the dais on Sunday, with the trio talking about their respective journeys to the top in their glittering careers.

One of the few players to achieve over 1000 professional career matches, and owner of the record for most clean sheets in the Uefa Champions League, as well as for the Spain national team, Casillas will share his experiences with the audience and talk about his celebrated career, as well as his achievements with club and country.

Starting his career with Real Madrid’s youth teams in 1990, Casillas made his first team debut in 1999 as well as his first entry in the record books when he became the youngest goalkeeper to play in the final of the Champions League, and to win the title, at 19 years and four days.

Casillas continued at the Santiago Bernabue for 16 seasons, making 725 appearances for the Blancos and winning five La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey and four Supercopa de Espana in Spain. He also won three Uefa Champions League with Real, two Uefa Super Cups, one Fifa Club World Cup and two Intercontinental Cups.

In 2015, Casillas bid adieu to Real after 25 years and signed for Portuguese club Porto, where he won the Primeira Liga and Supertaca Candido de Oliveira double in 2018.

On the international stage, Casillas was captain of the Spanish teams that won the 2010 World Cup, and the 2008 and 2012 European Championships. At the 2010 World Cup, Casillas kept a joint-record five clean sheets and won the Yashin Award for the Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.

At the 2012 European Championships, he set the tournament record for the most consecutive minutes (509) without conceding a goal in the competition.

Casillas’ participation as a speaker at the Dubai International Sports Conference will be an invaluable opportunity for UAE’s football players, especially goalkeepers, to get personal insights from one of the greatest keepers in football history.