Cristiano Ronaldo walked into a packed room, admitted he was nervous, then did what he has done for more than two decades: command the spotlight, shrug off his critics and remind everyone that he is not ready to step aside just yet.
The 41-year-old Portugal captain, speaking Wednesday at the Portugal Football Summit ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Nations League match against Wales, said he still has plenty to offer his country as Jorge Jesus prepares for his first game in charge of the national team.
Jesus replaced Roberto Martinez after Portugal’s disappointing World Cup campaign ended with a round-of-16 defeat to eventual champions Spain.
Ronaldo, who has scored 979 career goals, including 833 for his clubs and 146 for Portugal, is just 21 goals away from the 1,000-goal milestone he has openly targeted. Asked whether he would rather win another Nations League title or reach four figures, Ronaldo grinned before making his priorities clear: He wants both.
“One goal is to achieve both: reaching 1,000 goals and the national team trying to win this Nations League,” Ronaldo said at the Portugal Football Summit at the Portuguese Football Federation headquarters outside Lisbon.
“It’s a new era with manager Jorge Jesus, whom we all know well. I just hope things go well for him.”
Ronaldo said reaching 1,000 in Portugal colors would be “the icing on the cake.”
“Scoring my 1,000th goal for the national team would be the culmination of something, a beautiful story,” he said. “It wouldn’t be the end of it, but it would be a beautiful story.”
Ronaldo insisted, however, that he was not consumed by the chase.
“I’ve already admitted that I want to get there, and I will get there,” he said. “An obsession? No ... The rest is about enjoying it, enjoying every day.”
Ronaldo acknowledged he had considered his international future after Portugal’s World Cup exit but said talks with the Portuguese Football Federation and Jesus convinced him to continue.
“They count on me. I still believe that I’m able to help the national team,” he said. “The most important point is to be able, inside the pitch, to score goals and help the team to win games.
“If the manager doesn’t count on me, I can leave today. No problem at all. When I feel that I’m not doing anything here, that I’m not contributing on the pitch, not scoring goals, creating a bad atmosphere, or that they don’t want me here, I’ll be the first to pack my bags.”
Pressed on retirement, Ronaldo refused to draw a clear line under his career.
“I learned something from my late 30s onward, which is to live in the moment, don’t think about tomorrow,” he said.
“Is it possible? Yes. Highly likely? Yes. But will it happen? No, I don’t know.”
Ronaldo also bristled at criticism, saying media outlets had been trying to “kill” him for years.
“That’s not going to happen under any circumstances, not even with a shotgun,” he said. “And even so, I still manage to dodge the bullet.”
Ronaldo may be 21 goals from four figures and perhaps closer to the exit than he cares to admit, but for now he remains exactly where he likes to be: in Portugal’s shirt, in front of the cameras and dodging bullets with a smile.
