Cristiano Ronaldo has never had time for his critics, so he has consistently ignored calls for his international retirement following his embarrassing Euro 2024 campaign.
“People who give their opinions have never been in a locker room,” the Portuguese legend recently told reporters. I often laugh about it because it would be the same as talking about Formula 1. How can I give my opinion on Formula 1 if I don’t know anything about tires, rims or the weight of the car?”
It’s a fair question. But then again, you don’t have to be a former F1 driver to recognise a car crash when you see one – or a former professional footballer to realise when a player has finished at the highest level.
Ronaldo wants to continue
It was clear after the 2022 World Cup that Ronaldo no longer deserved to start for the Seleccao. Fernando Santos had already made that decision at the tournament in Qatar and took the courageous decision to leave his captain out for the last-16 match against Switzerland. Substitute Goncalo Ramos responded by scoring a historic hat-trick in Portugal’s 6-1 win in Lusail.
However, the shock quarter-final defeat to Morocco left Santos vulnerable, and the man who masterminded Portugal’s Euro 2016 triumph resigned just five days after that 1-0 loss in Doha.
According to the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), it was time to ” start a new cycle »giving the new manager a perfect opportunity to rebuild without Ronaldo. Roberto Martinez chose to fly immediately to Saudi Arabia and convince the captain to continue. It was a catastrophic mistake, compounded by Martinez’s repeated refusal to leave Ronaldo out of the Euro 2024 squad.
Ronaldo admitted this week that ” “Until the end of my career, I will always be in the mindset of playing as a starter” – which should not be realistic, but it now seems perfectly plausible that Martinez will continue to choose Ronaldo for Portugal until Ronaldo himself decides otherwise.
A major problem for Portugal
Cr7 undoubtedly deserved better than to retire after a humiliating Euro campaign. He is the top scorer and most appearances in international football history, so it could have been agreed that he would depart after one final appearance in front of an adoring crowd in Portugal. It would have been a fitting farewell and given everyone involved a much-needed chance to move on.
However, there is now every reason to believe that Ronaldo intends to continue until the 2026 World Cup. Rio Ferdinand even recently admitted on his own podcast that he was ” stunned ” by his former teammate’s retirement plan: ” I can’t say too much, but I’ve done some reports with Cristiano behind the scenes and he plays as long as he wants. He’s not going anywhere.” Which is a major problem for Portugal…
