Cristiano Ronaldo wants to remain captain of the Portuguese national team for as long as possible, even when he is 38 years old.
“It has always been my dream to represent the national team,” the Portuguese sports newspaper “A Bola” quoted him as saying before his 200th international match against Iceland. “I want to continue to make all Portuguese happy. A journey that I hope will not end any time soon”, said Ronaldo.
A goal in 200th game ‘would be great’
“It would be great, it would be great if I scored in my 200th game for the national team, but the most important thing is that we qualify and the team is doing well,” emphasized Ronaldo before the encounter in the European Championship qualifier. “I’m very proud to be the first to make the 200th game, I never thought that.”
After the disappointing World Cup in Qatar, the end of the Portuguese national team seemed to have come for the 38-year-old. Ronaldo was only a backup player under coach Fernando Santos, he was unable to prevent the quarter-final defeat against outsiders Morocco (0-1) after coming on as a substitute in the second half.
After the World Cup, he moved to the possibly second-class Saudi League to the Al-Nassr club. Ronaldo is expected to earn around 200 million euros a year.
Martinez builds on CR7
Meanwhile, Ronaldo is back in the national team under new coach Roberto Martinez. “Cristiano has an incredible international experience, probably unique. He’s very important for the dressing room,” praised Martinez, who previously coached Belgium.
In 2024, Ronaldo in Germany can dream of his sixth participation in the European Championship, which no player has ever managed to do. With 25 European Championship games and 14 goals, he holds other records. Ronaldo celebrated his greatest success with Portugal when they won the European Championship in 2016.