Cristiano Ronaldo Congratulates Frederico Morais’ Pro Surfing Return

It’s the off-season for pro surfing right now.

But in the time since Filipe Toledo and Caroline Marks won World Titles at the World Surf League’s 2023 Finals Day, things have been gearing up for next season.

Like finalizing the 2024 roster, which was officially announced today.

The class of 2024 features a mixture of new names and familiar faces (like Kelly Slater, who was granted a season-long wildcard). One returning surfer, who was previously on the Championship Tour, is Portugal’s Frederico Morais.

And upon his qualification, he got a congratulations from a fellow Portuguese athlete:

Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Parabéns” (or “congratulations” in the duo’s native tongue), wrote the soccer star with a clapping and bicep-flexing emoji.

It wasn’t the only congratulations for Freddy either – outside of the surf world, other big names included Portuguese soccer player Jéssica Silva, Brazilian singer and songwriter Vitor Kley, and Portuguese racecar driver António Félix da Costa.

And Freddy’s been on Tour in the past, but fell off in 2022. As he told Olympics.com:

"(In) 2021 I finished top ten, the best year of my career, and then the next year I'm falling off on the fifth stop of the tour

"It's a really tricky one because you're kind of counting on all the stops and then there's a cut on the fifth stop. Sometimes you go bad at the start of the year, then you kind of make it up on the second half of the year, so there is no room for mistake."

Here are the other qualifiers via the Challenger Series who will be joining Fred in 2024:

• Cole Houshmand (USA)

• Samuel Pupo (BRA)

• Jacob Willcox (AUS)

• Crosby Colapinto (USA)

• Eli Hanneman (HAW)

• Imaikalani deVault (HAW)

• Frederico Morais (POR)

• Jake Marshall (USA)

• Kade Matson (USA)

• Deivid Silva (BRA)

***

Don't miss another headline from SURFER! Subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on Instagram, and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of surfing. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging surf-related videos to feature on our channels.

Whether you're a professional surfer or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on SURFER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality surf videos.