Portuguese football great Cristiano Ronaldo opened up on retirement plans from international football and ruled out any immediate thought of calling it quits. The Al-Nassr great shared that he feels there is so much for him to give to Portugal. Ronaldo spoke at a press conference ahead of Portugal’s forthcoming Nations League matches against Croatia and Scotland, where he expressed his motivation and commitment to the team.
The 39-year-old, as quoted by Reuters, said, “It never crossed my mind that my cycle with Portugal had come to an end. It is quite the opposite, it gave me even more motivation to continue to be honest.” He added, “The motivation is to come to the national team to win the Nations League. We have already won it once and we want to it. I might say the same thing over and over again, but I don’t think long term, it’s always short term. When I feel like I’m not adding anymore I’ll be the first to leave; that’s life. ”
Criticism is great because if it doesn’t exist there’s no progress: Cristiano Ronaldo
The five-time Ballon D’Or winner spoke about receiving criticism as a catalyst for progress and drew a parallel between uninformed criticism. She said, “Criticism is great because if it doesn’t exist there is no progress. It has always been like this. Is it going to change now? It won’t. So I try to follow my path, be as professional as possible, help in the best way possible with my professionalism and not just with goals, assists, discipline and example because football is much more than just playing well or scoring a goal.”
He added, “People who give their opinions have never been in a locker room and I often laugh at it because it’s the same thing as me talking about Formula 1.”