"Sick, vile & absolutely disgusting!" - Kevin Pietersen wants fans to stop daily bashing of Cristiano Ronaldo 

Former England cricketer Kevin Petersen has come to the defence of Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo.

That comes amidst backlash for the Portuguese following his ugly Manchester United exit, Portugal's 2022 FIFA World Cup defeat and Lionel Messi's World Cup triumph.

While Ronaldo's Portugal exited in the quarterfinals (lost 1-0 to Morocco), Messi's Argentina went all the way, beating France on penalties in the final. Ronaldo also had a disappointing campaign, scoring once in five games, while Messi had seven goals and three assists in seven games.

Fans and many former players have lambasted Ronaldo, but Pietersen is not one of them, urging the daily bashing to stop, terming it 'absolutely disgusting'. He tweeted:

"Any parent will resonate with this - 'you're only as happy as your unhappiest child. Cristiano lost one of his children a few months ago, and so I strongly feel that the daily bashing of someone who we all know is completely broken, is sick, vile & absolutely disgusting!. STOP!"

The Englishman has always been a Cristiano Ronaldo admirer, mostly because of the 37-year-old legend's legacy at Pietersen's favourite club, Manchester United. Pietersen also defended Ronaldo's explosive interview with Piers Morgan, where he lashed out at the club owners, certain board members and club manager Erik ten Hag.

Ronaldo top-scored with 24 goals for the Red Devils in the 2021-22 season. However, his real problems began with the arrival of Ten Hag, who after a few games, decided to use Ronaldo from the bench.

The Portugal international was not happy to play second fiddle following his heroics from last season. Growing frustrated due to his poor form and dwindling game time, Ronaldo poured his heart out about everything he has gone through since the start of the season, in his interview with Morgan.

That, of course, didn't go down well with United, who terminated their contract with Ronaldo by mutual consent. Following his campaign in Qatar, the 37-year-old is now a free agent. Media reports have linked the former Real Madrid superstar to many clubs, including Chelsea and Saudi-based club Al-Nassr.

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Cristiano Ronaldo 'deserved' a better end to his career - Federico Bernardeschi

Cristiano Ronaldo's former Juventus teammate and Italy midfielder Federico Bernardeschi has said that the Portuguese legend deserved a better end to his career following his glorious accomplishments.

The 28-year-old Italian played alongside Ronaldo for three years in Turin, witnessing one of the greatest players of all time from close quarters. Speaking about his former teammate, Bernardeschi tweeted:

"I'm sorry for Cristiano; he deserved to end his career in a different way. From what he's shown, he's one of the top three in history. I'm sorry mainly on a human level, for the person he is."

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus in 2018 from Real Madrid on a £99 million deal. He scored more than 100 goals for the Italian giants before returning to Manchester United in the summer of 2021.