Portuguese football genius Ronaldo decides to part ways with national team
Cristiano Ronaldo holds the records for the most goals ever in international play, European championships, Champions League and World Club championships
MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. Five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo, won't suit up for his country anymore, the footballer announced on Thursday.
"To the Portuguese people, the day has come for me to hand back the No. 7 shirt of our national team. I never felt it belonged to me alone, but for 23 years I had the privilege and the responsibility of wearing it, defending it and carrying it with me into stadiums all around the world," Ronaldo said in a five-minute retirement video posted on his X social network account.
On September 30, Ronaldo left a training camp for the national team, saying that the team's Head Coach Jorge Jesus had broken promises made on two occasions.
Ronaldo took part in the opening match of the new season of the UEFA Nations League against the Wales team (1:0), after which he sat out a game versus Norway (2:1).
As the Portuguese footballer himself noted later, he wasn’t originally supposed to play in that match, but the coach asked him to be ready to run in the pitch for 30 minutes and sent him to warm up, but he ended up sitting on the bench all game. Later, Ronaldo stated that he did not intend to end his international career and remains available for selection to the team.
The Portuguese Football Federation eventually slapped Ronaldo with a ban from matches for the national team for a month and fined him 255 Euros (some $287). Ronaldo could have played in the upcoming Nations League matches against Denmark (November 14) and Wales (November 17), as the term of his suspension would have expired by then.
Ronaldo, 41, is a five-time winner of the UEFA Champions League, a UEFA Euro Cup holder, a two-time winner of the UEFA League of Nations.
He holds the records for the most goals ever in international play, European championships, Champions League and World Club championships. The footballer has been playing for Saudis club Al-Nasr since December 2022. During his career, the striker also played for Sporting Portugal, Manchester United in England, Juventus in Italy and Real Madrid in Spain.