Euro 2024: Portugal’s exit likely to herald Ronaldo’s international retirement
- France win 5-3 on penalties after Ronaldo misses glaring chance to score in extra time
Defeat for Portugal at the European Championship likely brought down the curtain on the extraordinary international career of Cristiano Ronaldo.
While Portugal’s totemic forward has made no pronouncements on his future with the national team, the 39-year-old struggled to revive former glories at the tournament in Germany and departed Euro 2024 without scoring apart from in shoot-outs.
Portugal lost 5-3 to France on penalties in their quarter-final after a goalless stalemate, in which Ronaldo missed a glaring chance in extra time but converted one of the kicks in the shoot-out.
“It’s too soon and raw after the match to talk about that and there have been no individual decisions made,” coach Roberto Martinez said when asked if it had been Ronaldo’s last game in a Portugal jersey.
There will forever be debates about where he sits among the greatest footballers – in or behind the exulted company of three-times World Cup winner Pele or the extraordinary talent of Diego Maradona or long-time rival Lionel Messi.
All of them won the World Cup, which Ronaldo has not, but in terms of statistics in national team colours the 39-year-old is out there on his own.
