Cristiano Ronaldo will take time to consider his international future but stopped short of walking away from Portugal following their World Cup exit to Spain.
Ronaldo made his 233rd appearance for his country in Dallas last night but was powerless to prevent European champions Spain from moving into the quarter-finals thanks to Mikel Merino’s injury-time strike.
The 41-year-old is now expected to focus on his club career with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia but refused to make a snap decision in the immediate aftermath of the defeat.
He told reporters: “I’m sad to leave the World Cup this way. As I said yesterday, I gave it my all, and I leave with a clear conscience. That’s the life of a footballer. You have to move forward.
“It was my last World Cup, yes. But as for the rest, there’s time to think, to be with my family, and not say things in the heat of the moment.”
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Martinez heaps praise on captain Ronaldo
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez has been accused of indulging the former Real Madrid man with the younger, and more mobile, Goncalo Ramos kicking his heels on the bench.
But Martinez, who yesterday confirmed he would leave his post after his side’s elimination, had nothing but praise for Ronaldo.
“He’s been an exemplary captain,” he said.
“I arrived with Portugal at a time with a lot of confusion and doubts about Cristiano, and he’s been a role model, not just with goals and assists, what he does in the box, his commitment, how he experiences football. He’s an example, we have to celebrate him.
“We’re talking about an icon in football. There aren’t many Cristiano Ronaldos. We have to be thankful for what he did at this World Cup, he wanted to win it, as a player, a captain, on a human level, we’ll all take it with us forever. An example as the human being who is behind the sportsman.”
Martinez defends decision to keep Ronaldo on
Ronaldo struggled to make an impact against a Spain side that had over 55% possession but remained on for the full game.
“When you’re a team and you need a goal you can’t take Cristiano Ronaldo off,” Martinez added. “He can play 90 minutes, no problem. He’s a presence, he opens space, a dead-ball situation, anything in the box, it would make no sense.
“In extra time it probably would have made sense to use Goncalo Ramos. We had to keep the structure, it wasn’t the case to take your top scorer off in the 90 minutes.”
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