New Delhi: Cristiano Ronaldo has announced his retirement from the international Portugal football team on Thursday at the age of 41. Spanning 23 years and six World Cup appearance, the striker called curtains to his illustrious career with 146 goals in 234 matches.
Ronaldo announced his retirement on his official Instagram account. The announcement, captioned “Portugal will always be in me,” features a roughly five-minute video message in which he reads a heartfelt farewell letter directly addressing the Portuguese people.
“To the Portuguese people, the day has come for me to hand back the number 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,” he said. “Today, the time has come to pass it to the future.”
He added that despite the analytical reasons or recent challenges, his love for the national team made the step incredibly difficult. He ultimately felt it was the right moment to pass the torch to the next generation of Portuguese players.
“It was not an easy decision. Because not all decisions are made with the mind alone. They are also made with the heart. A journey that began in 2003 and changed my life forever has come to an end,” Ronaldo said, adding that when he looks back at his career with the national team, it is not the trophies, records or goals that he will reminisce about, but the people of Portugal.
“I see the (Portugal) people who live abroad. I see millions of Portuguese whom I have never met but who have become a part of my life. Because in the end, football is so much bigger than a game. Football is about people,” he added.
‘There were defeats that still hurt’
Ronaldo, who had a nasty fallout with the Portugal national team in September, said that he has always given his best for the country.
“There were perfect afternoons and nights. There were victories that I will never forget. There were defeats that still hurt to remember. I made mistakes, I suffered. There were also moments when I couldn’t give the Portuguese people what they so desperately wanted. But I never gave up. And above all, I never stopped feeling proud to represent Portugal,” he added.
According to Ronaldo, the goals he scored will fade, the trophies he had won wil eventually end up in museums and records are eventually broken, but time cannot erase footballers from the hearts of millions of people.
“If I ever made you happy, if one of my goals ever made you embrace someone, forget a worry or feel proud of our country, then it was all worth it. Because being Portuguese is also about this: we suffer together, we rise together, we believe again,” he said.
Thanking his teammates for being beside him in every run, Ronaldo said that “it was a privilege to make runs” beside them. He also talked about his family who “understood the reason behind him being absent” on most occasions.
“Thank you for allowing me to live a dream that began when I was just a little boy in Madeira running after a football,” he said.
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‘End of a legendary era’
Ronaldo’s retirement announcement has triggered a massive wave of emotional tributes from fans, teammates, and the global football community.
“The end of a legendary era. Cristiano Ronaldo leaves Portugal with 146 goals in 234 games,” football analyst Fabrizio Romano posted on X.
Congratulating Ronaldo and claiming he is the Greatest of All Time, Broadcaster Piers Morgan posted, “(Ronaldo) played the most ever games (234). He scored the most ever goals (146). He led Portugal to their own only major trophies (3).”
Meanwhile, an X user said that his retirement came after the September incident when Ronaldo walked out of the international team camp.
“Cristiano Ronaldo has just retired from international football after being disrespected. Thank you for everything, the people will not forget,” he posted.
Another X user shared a meme video with the caption, “Happy retirement Cristiano Ronaldo”. In the short video, Argentinians, Brazilians and Croatians were unhappy when their respective idols—Messi, Neymar and Modric—retired. But when it comes to Ronaldo, people were enjoying.