Cristiano Ronaldo shared a poignant tribute on social media to his late father in honour of Fathers' Day in his native Portugal. 

The 41-year-old started his Instagram post with a picture of him surrounded by his family, including his five children: Cristiano Jr, Alana, Mateo, Eva, and Bella Esmeralda. 

But included in the carousel was a second picture of the Portuguese superstar as a young man, alongside his father Jose Dinis Aveiro, who died at the age of just 52 in 2005. 

Aveiro had worked as equipment manager at Andorinha, a local club on Madeira, and it was there that he recommended his son make his first start in football. 

At the time of his death from liver failure, Ronaldo was only two years into his time at Manchester United, with no understanding of the heady heights he might reach in the sport.

But for all of the renown that he has since achieved, Ronaldo remains keen to pay tribute to his roots, as he showed in a caption for the post which read: 'Where I come from and who I live for. Happy Father's Day (red heart emoji)'. 

Ronaldo has admitted himself that he had a complication relationship with his father during his lifetime, largely due to the former soldier's alcoholism. 

The Al-Nassr striker shared his father's tragic condition meant that he 'didn't know his father 100 per cent' in an interview with Piers Morgan in 2019. 

'I never spoke with him, like a normal conversation. It was hard,' he added. 

The lingering scars of his early death even saw him too traumatised to join his Portugal team-mates at the funeral of Liverpool star Diego Jota last summer. 

As Jota's international captain, there were those who believed Ronaldo might be in attendance as he was laid to rest in their home country. 

Speaking to Morgan again in November, he revealed: 'One of the things that I don't do, it's after my father died, I've never been in a cemetery again.' 

Ronaldo's sister Katia Aveiro has previously related how, after their father's death in 2005, graves were damaged as the media and public followed their every move - even when they were in the cemetery.

'When my father died in 2005, not only because of the sadness of loss, but also because of the cameras and curious people pouring in from the cemetery and everywhere we went,' she wrote on Instagram over the summer. 

'It was an indescribable tragedy. Graves were damaged, and people rudely walked up and down the wall. In the chaos, we could not leave with dignity.

'The pain was excruciating.'

Just 20 when his father died, Ronaldo was at that time working under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, and still remembers the legendary manager's thoughtful gesture towards him shortly before Aveiro's death. 

'Probably he doesn't remember, but I will say it because it's a beautiful story,' Ronaldo recounted. 'One day, my father was in hospital, and I was so emotional, very low. 

'And I spoke with him and he said: "Cristiano, go there for two or three days," he said. We had difficult games (coming up) and I was a key player in that moment.

'He said: "It will be tough because we have difficult games, but I understand your situation and I’ll leave you (out) and you can go and see your father."

'For me, these are the most important things – apart from winning Champions Leagues, to win the Premier League, to win cups and stuff. 

'So I have to appreciate him, because what he said to me, he always did. I have to appreciate that.'