The international break in March is already on and all the players called up are already making themselves available to their coach, as was the case with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Since the Al Nassr player, who was already 38 when he joined the Portuguese national team for this break, is happy to take on a new international challenge and to forget his bad World Cup, during which he made people talk of him for everything except football.
After his more or less painful break with Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo went to rebuild himself in Saudi Arabia with millions of dollars. It is therefore right that he has received an elixir of youth, a new energy, which allows him to approach the first international break of 2023 as a young man of 20 and not as that of the old man of 38. that he actually is.
Indeed, despite his status, his stint in Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr took away the media pressure he struggled to bear during his last stint at Manchester United. In addition, the visit of the new coach of Portugal, Roberto Martinez, to Saudi Arabia on the occasion of the Super Cup of Spain allowed him to talk to him and to take the decision to continue wearing the shirt of the national team, for which he has 196 caps and 118 goals, which is an absolute record for an international player.
As he arrived at Portugal’s training camp to start the road to Euro 2024, he sported a beaming smile that showed he was eager to continue making history with his country. The games against Liechtenstein and Luxembourg are an invitation to do so. If Cristiano Ronaldo scores during this break, he will add to his incredible international goalscoring tally. He will even be on the verge of reaching 200 caps with Portugal, another step he is looking forward to as the cape approaches.
A lot seems to have changed for Cristiano Ronaldo in the four months since the abrupt end of the World Cup. The quarter-final elimination against Morocco was very painful, especially for him, because he ended the tournament as a substitute for Gonçalo Ramos and found himself in the middle of a personal war with coach Fernando Santos, who quit right after the tournament. Without him and with Roberto Martínez on the bench, Cristiano is smiling again. Records await. He still has goals to score.
