Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed he will carry on playing for Portugal, revealing that he considered walking away from international football after the World Cup but has decided to continue. The 41-year-old, who has won 233 caps for his country, also set his sights on reaching 1,000 goals for club and country, a milestone he is 21 goals short of.
Ronaldo captained Portugal at the World Cup in the summer, where they were eliminated by Spain in the last 16. Asked whether he had thought about retiring from international duty in the aftermath, he was direct: “Yes, I did. Of course, I’m always thinking about my decisions, my future, the present also. I’m a thinker; you have to think. This is why you see me here now, it means I will continue.”
Speaking at Portugal’s City of Football complex in Lisbon, Ronaldo explained that he had spoken with federation president Pedro Proenca and the national team coach before deciding to stay. He said he still believes he can contribute, both through goals and beyond football, pointing to a new young generation coming through. “Whenever they say they don’t want me in the national team, I will be the first one to go,” he said. “When I think I am not adding anything to the team, or that I create an atmosphere, I will be the first to go. I will take my suitcase and leave. The Portuguese count on me. That’s why I’m still here … Just look at the numbers, I’m sure you can make some calculations, I’m still doing well. The day they don’t count on me, no problemo, I will leave. I will always be the No 1 fan of this federation.”
Ronaldo’s position was publicly backed by Jorge Jesus, the new Portugal head coach who previously managed him at Al-Nassr and has succeeded Roberto Martínez. Jesus said Ronaldo would start in his first game in charge, against Wales in the Nations League on Thursday, and launched a passionate defence of the forward that drew applause from many of those present. “Cristiano is a symbol of Portugal and the national team,” Jesus said, sitting alongside Ronaldo. “If he will play the games, he is not entitled to that, it is up to the manager to decide.”
On the criticism that has followed him, Ronaldo was relaxed. Asked directly about it, he prompted laughter in the room by replying: “I cannot be 100% honest, sometimes I have to be politically correct.” He continued: “I do understand that some TV channels like to criticise me, they’ve tried to kill me – with a shotgun – but I can still move away from it. Anyway, I am used to it. I have been doing this for more than 20 years, I’m quite used to it. What I can control, I will. What I can’t, I won’t.” He added that he knows what he is and what he has done to reach his level, describing himself as an example to young children – a role he intends to keep fulfilling, by his own account, even in retirement.
Thursday’s Nations League fixture takes Portugal back to the José Alvalade Stadium, where Ronaldo began his career with Sporting before joining Manchester United in 2003. It is Portugal’s first game in Lisbon since they beat Ireland in a World Cup qualifier last October. “It’s a special feeling because it was there where my beautiful history started,” Ronaldo said. “I’m very proud about that, to play for the national team after so many years, playing where I practically was opened to the world.”
He described the experience of representing Portugal as unchanged by time – “after so many years, it is [still always] like the first time” – and admitted the venue adds something extra. Scoring his 1,000th goal there, he said, would be “the cherry on the top of the cake” and “the culmination of a beautiful story”. He insisted, though, that the target is not an obsession: “I said I wanted to reach that target and I will reach that target. But I don’t have an obsession. If you are obsessed with something, you won’t get it … Just enjoy. Carpe diem, enjoy the day.”