LONDON: The football world rallied around Cristiano Ronaldo and his partner Georgina Rodriguez yesterday after they announced that their newborn son had died.
The 37-year-old Manchester United forward had revealed in a social media post last October that the couple was expecting twins.
In a post released on Monday on the Portuguese international's Twitter account, they confirmed the birth of a baby girl.
"It is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that our baby boy has passed away. It is the greatest pain that any parents can feel," Ronaldo and Rodriguez said in a jointly signed statement.
"Only the birth of our baby girl gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness. We would like to thank the doctors and nurses for all their expert care and support.
"We are all devastated at this loss and we kindly ask for privacy at this very difficult time."
The couple, who met during Ronaldo's time at Real Madrid, have a four-year-old daughter together, while Ronaldo has three other children.
The announcement was met with widespread sympathy from across football.
"Your pain is our pain, Cristiano," Manchester United tweeted. "Sending love and strength to you and the family at this time."
On their web page, Real Madrid said that the club and its officials "deeply regret the death of one of the children that our beloved Cristiano Ronaldo and his partner, Georgina Rodriguez, were expecting".
"Real Madrid joins the grief of the whole family and wants to show them all our love and affection," the Spanish giants said.
Rival clubs, among them Leeds United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, also sent condolences.
"All of us here at Liverpool FC send our deepest condolences to you, Georgina and the family," Liverpool tweeted.
Ronaldo's United teammates also joined the outpouring of sympathy.
"Thoughts are with you and Georgina, brother I'm so sorry," forward Marcus Rashford wrote on Twitter.
Goalkeeper David de Gea responded to Ronaldo's announcement with a simple heart emoji.
Good transfer windows
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick said Manchester United only need a couple of good transfer windows to get them playing to a similar standard as Liverpool.
Liverpool have won the Premier League, Champions League, League Cup, Super Cup and Club World Cup over the last four seasons, a period during which United have failed to claim a single trophy.
Rangnick said that the success of United's rebuild would depend on deciding on a style of play and bringing in the players who can make it work.
"I don't think that a club like Manchester United can afford to take three or four years in order to achieve that," he said. "If you know what you are looking for it will take two or three transfer windows. If you don't know what you're looking for you'll always be looking for the needle in the haystack.
"If you know what kind of football you want to play and what kind of profiles you want for each individual position, then it is about finding the players and convincing them to come. It's not that complicated, it's not rocket science."
Liverpool claimed their first top flight league title for 30 years in 2020 but Rangnick said it was unlikely United would be forced to wait a similar period.
"I suppose that will not happen because it is obvious what needs to change and there needs to be a rebuild for the future," he said. "I don't think that this will happen."
