“I want to participate in this World Championship and also in the European Championship in 2024. I say it now”. With those strong words he surprised this week
Cristiano Ronaldo
, which prevented him from retiring from the Portuguese national team while speculating whether his ambition will prevail over age and even reach new records.
Cristiano, at 37, is still a point of reference for the Portuguese national team. Since he made his debut with the Portuguese shirt on 20 August 2003 against Kazakhstan, with a team in which historical names such as Luís Figo or Pauleta played, the Madeira forward has not stopped making history.
He has five European Championships behind him – including 2016, the only time Portugal has been crowned European Champions – and four World Cups, and is willing to add one to his career.
His intention to play the World Cup in Qatar was already known, but few expected that he would also like to reach the next European Championship.
EXAMPLE OF AMBITION
Among those who have seen his ambition on the pitch up close, such as the teammates, with whom he is focused these days to play the League of Nations, the surprise was not so great.
“Those who believed that Cristiano Ronaldo did not want to be in that European Championship do not know him well enough,” said Bruno Fernandes, with whom he also shares a dressing room at Manchester United and who has defended that Madeira “will continue to overcome barriers that others. they do not reach ”.
Wolverhampton’s Rúben Neves agrees. “Nobody was surprised. By working with Cristiano as we work, we know what he is capable of,” he said Thursday.
The one that hasn’t been talked about since the Portuguese dropped the bomb is the Portuguese manager Fernando Santos, but last week, when he revealed the call-up for the League of Nations matches against the Czech Republic and Spain, he already said that Cristiano will continue present with the “quinas”.
“I think no one here has any doubts that he is still very important for the national team.”he has declared.
REGISTRATION AFTER REGISTRATION
The striker’s ambition has turned into a record over the years and if he manages to play Euro 2024 he will be able to add a new one to the list he already boasts: to be the longest-lived outside player to play in a European championship.
The Portuguese would reach the European Championship in Germany with just over 39 years and four months, enough to beat the record held so far by the German Lothar Matthäus, who played in 2000 at 39 years and 91 days.
Cristiano already has the title of top scorer of the national teams in the history of footballwhich he scored in September 2021 when he scored his 110th goal for Portugal and surpassed Iranian Ali Daei’s 109 goals.
A year later, the tally already totals 117 goals in 189 games.
He is also the top scorer in the finals of the European and World Championships and all-time top scorer at the European Championships with 14 goals, ahead of the nine scored by Frenchman Michel Platini.
At Euro 2020 he was proclaimed top scorer of the tournament, despite Portugal falling in the round of 16, making him the oldest player to become a European top scorer.
While there is speculation about ambitions and records, Cristiano, who may be seen with his family in and around Lisbon this week, remains calm.
“We are fine,” he told media microphones on Thursday before boarding the plane to Prague, where they will face the Czech Republic. A new opportunity to continue adding minutes and goals.
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