Ronaldo will be the captain of Portugal at Euro 2024, where coach Roberto Martínez’s team is classified in Group F along with the Czech Republic, Türkiye and Georgia. This will be the eleventh major tournament for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and his record sixth European Championship appearance. The 39-year-old superstar helped Portugal win the tournament in 2016, although he had to end the final against France early due to injury.
He will turn 40 next February, but Ronaldo continues to show prolific goalscoring form with a record 50 goals for Al Nassr last season, including setting a new Saudi Pro League scoring record with 35 goals. He has also just increased his international goal tally to 130 after 207 appearances, after a fantastic double helped Portugal defeat the Republic of Ireland in a friendly match in his hometown of Aveiro on Friday night .
However, although he is still going strong, Ronaldo admits that he is nearing the end of his career. Speaking after Tuesday’s 3-0 win, according to Fabrizio Romano, Ronaldo said: “I don’t have many years left in football… so I have to enjoy it. I like football. Every game is special, imagine the Euro Cup against Portugal, you will feel proud… it is a dream, like when I was 20 years old.”
Ronaldo will become the first player to play in six European Championships since his debut in 2004. Portugal was eliminated by Belgium in the round of 16 of the postponed tournament in 2021, while they were eliminated by Morocco in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar . But the Iberia team arguably has the best team of all time and many believe that they will win the tournament this time.
“I firmly believe that this team will bring a lot of joy to Portuguese fans starting from this European Championship,” Ronaldo told UEFA about the quality of the team. “However, in my opinion, the best generation of players is always the one that wins titles. I hope this national team wins because they are an incredibly talented team. However, as we all know, talent alone is not enough to win. “There are many factors that determine winning an important tournament like the Euro Cup.”
“We have all the ingredients to win, but we will take it step by step, game by game, believing that we can win,” Ronaldo added. “What we achieved in 2016 is historic, both for Portuguese football and for the world. Now our feet are firmly on the ground, but our minds are in the sky, we look up and see that it is possible to win the European Championship.”
