Salgado reveals reason behind Ronaldo's longevity

Dubai - Ronaldo has scored 43 international goals in just 44 games after turning 30.

Having played with Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid, Michel Salgado knows why the 34-year-old Portuguese icon is showing no signs of slowing down.
It was only on Monday night that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner scored his 700th career goal during Portugal's Euro 2020 qualifying match against Ukraine.
In 814 matches at club level, Ronaldo has netted 605 times.
And in Portugal national team's colours, the former Sporting Lisbon star needs just five more goals to complete a century.
Remarkably, for a man who scored 52 international goals in 118 matches for Portugal before turning 30, Ronaldo has found a new gear in the last four years, scoring 43 goals in just 44 games.
And Salgado, the former Real Madrid and Spain defender, believes Ronaldo's attention to detail has helped him perform at a very high level in his 30s.
"Ronaldo has the best people around him to support him in terms of information, in terms of technology. It has helped him enjoy a long career," Salgado told Khaleej Times during an exclusive interview.
"I know Cristiano Ronaldo because I played with him at Real Madrid. He is a guy who always uses the technology to recover after matches. For me, the most important thing in football is the way you recover after a match. And that's something Cristiano Ronaldo is very serious about."
Salgado, who shared the stage with Dutch football legend Clarence Seedorf and Yana Klochkova - the four-time Olympic gold medal-winning Ukrainian swimmer - at the Dubai Artificial Intelligence in Sports Conference, said he would have loved to have the luxury of using such technology during his time as a professional player.
"I retired when I was 38. So I did well from that perspective, but I was lucky with injuries as well. Having said that I would have loved it, you know," said Salgado, who won four La Liga titles and two Champions League titles with Real Madrid.
"I am a bit old fashioned, but now I am also a coach. The good thing is all the technology I couldn't use as a player I can use them as a coach now. So, yes, I would have loved to have such wonderful support from technology that players have now.
"Especially, now with the medicines available for the athletes, it has made it very easy for them to recover well. It also helps you with the diet.
"So, it's really a great time to be an elite athlete because the technology is helping the players to be better prepared for the competitions."
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com