Portuguese defender Joao Cancelo has insisted the national team is not entirely dependent on 39-year-old superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo celebrated his 39th birthday in February but has shown no signs of slowing down, finishing 2023 as the world's top scorer with 54 goals. The Al-Nassr superstar will set out for glory again this summer with Portugal at Euro 2024, although teammate Cancelo insisted the national team was not entirely dependent of its aging captain.
He told Portuguese channel RTP: “He is an important player who spent 15 years competing with Messi for the Ballon d'Or, but the peak of a footballer's career is between the ages of 25 and 32. He is an important player for us, but the national team does not depend entirely on him“.
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Ronaldo may no longer be in peak form, but he is still likely to play a starring role for Portugal at this summer's tournament in Germany. The striker outperformed Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé in qualifying, scoring 10 times for Portugal, with Roberto Martinez's side the only ones to finish with a 100% success rate. However, Martinez has a host of other quality attacking options in his squad, including Bruno Fernandes, Goncalo Ramos, Joao Felix, Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leao.
Ronaldo and Cancelo are among the Portuguese players who have been rested for the team's upcoming friendly against Sweden on Thursday. Both players will return to the squad in time for Portugal's next match against Slovenia on Tuesday.
