Cristiano Ronaldo is not ready to retire from international football. Star player says he will be ‘the first to leave’ international football when he can no longer contribute to his team. Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has dismissed suggestions he had considered ending his international career shortly, adding that post-Euro criticism did not worry him.
Ronaldo led Portugal in the Euro 2024 championship, where his country was knocked out in the quarterfinals following a loss against France. Cristiano Ronaldo opened up and said that losing the Euro fixture to France was not considered as a setback, instead was taken as a motivation that a lot more is to be done from his side.
Cristiano Ronaldo on Nations League
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“The motivation is to come to the national team to win the Nations League … We’ve already won it once, and we want to do it again. I might say the same thing over and over again. But I don’t think long term; it’s always short term.” Portugal will host Croatia in their Nations League opener on Thursday before welcoming Scotland to League A Group One on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo captained Portugal to success in the opening edition of the Nations League in 2018-19, three years after they became European champions for the first time in France. “Until the end of my career, I will always have the mindset that I will be a starter,” Ronaldo added.
“What I feel at the moment, and the coach’s [Roberto Martinez] words also demonstrate this, is that I continue to be an asset to the national team and I will be the first [to admit it] if that isn’t the case. “When the time comes, I’ll move on. It won’t be a difficult decision to make,” the 39-year-old said.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 130 international goals for Portugal, the most ever by a male player, in 212 appearances for his country – a world record. The former Real Madrid player received a special award from UEFA on Thursday in recognition of his record-breaking achievements in the elite event.
Ronaldo Dealing With Criticism Lately
Cristiano Ronaldo is the Champions League record scorer with 140 goals from 183 appearances for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. He was top scorer in seven seasons, including a record 17 goals in 2013-14, and is the only player to score in three finals. The star forward appeared untroubled by criticism he faced for failing to score at the 2024 European Championship.
“Criticism is great because if it doesn’t exist there’s no progress. It’s always been like this. Is it going to change now? It won’t,” Ronaldo said. He also stated that he tries to follow his path, be as professional as possible, and help in the best way possible with his professionalism and not just with goals, assists, discipline, and example because football is much more than just playing well or scoring a goal.
