If he didn’t care about starting from the bench, he would never be Cristiano Ronaldo. Knowing that he would be a substitute in the last 16 of the last World Cup in Qatar damaged his inflated self-esteem, and his attitude embarrassed many of his compatriots during that autumn of football. Time recognized no opponent, and at that moment he seemed forced to lower his arms against his will. The 38-year-old Portuguese still maintains an impeccable body, which allows him to challenge the clock in every game and every goal he scores. Coping with physical decline is one of the most difficult actions in life, especially for those who have done everything possible to prolong it.
Cristiano continues to step up and continue to prove that he is still a winner despite leaving the big European stage a few months ago to turn his career around. He knows he’s unique, and his scoring numbers make his chest swell. Reality saw him leave Juventus in Turin – despite scoring a hundred goals as a Bianconeri – for Manchester United, where pride betrayed myth, and upon his return to Old Trafford he experienced The worst months of my sporting career. He refused to take no for an answer and, after a sweet deal with Portugal and a second youth, he entered Arab football.
The Al-Nasr player from Saudi Arabia scored another brace against Bosnia after qualifying for the European Championships in the fastest time of his life against Slovakia last weekend. This will be the Madeira striker’s sixth appearance in the tournament after 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2021. An unprecedented milestone. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has 40 goals and eight assists in 43 games, making him the world’s top goalscorer in 2023, ahead of Erling Haaland (39) ) and Kylian Mbappe (35) or Harry Kane (33).
Cristiano was once again delighted with Brazil, since the team, or rather Fernando Santos, who led the team at the last World Cup in Qatar, abandoned him midway through the tournament, forgetting the services previously provided. The shadow of his retirement looms over the football world, but few think about it now. The striker returned to the starting XI in Portugal’s red and green colors in March and Spaniard Roberto Martinez has led the striker’s tail end for his country and he needs little to reconcile , nor does he need to prove that he hasn’t already made a deep impression internationally.
«As I said before, something is happening in my life, both professional and personal, that now makes me think about short-term issues. I can’t think of any other way. “Oh, I want to play until I’m 41 or 42 years old…”. I don’t have these goals. It’s about enjoying the moment. It was a great time and I felt good. My body is reacting to what I’ve been struggling with for the past few years and I’m enjoying the moment. I’m very happy with my club and national team. Things are going well. “I’ve scored a lot of goals, my body feels good and I’m enjoying the moment.”
In addition, since Roberto Martinez joined the Portuguese team, the star has scored 9 goals in 7 games, which brings his total number of goals in all appearances for the Portuguese team to 127. No one has scored more goals in defense of his country than the Funchal star.
The former Real Madrid striker is the club’s all-time top scorer, scoring twice against Bosnia, and has 859 goals in his career (club and country). Can he reach the round number of 1,000 points: “If physically my legs treat me like I treat them… we’ll see, they’re little stages. First we have to get to 900. I think I will To achieve this goal. He is 41 points away from the next goal.