Ronaldo turned 39 in February. However, the Portuguese player still scores regularly. He ends 2023 as the most scoring male football player in the world, with a total of 54 goals.
Ronaldo will join the Portuguese team heading to Euro 2024. However, teammate Joao Cancelo affirmed that Portugal is no longer as dependent on the 39-year-old captain as before.
“Ronaldo is an important player and has spent 15 years competing with Messi for the Golden Ball title. But the peak of a football player’s career is between the ages of 25 and 32. He is an important player for us, but the national team is not completely dependent on him.”
Although the peak is behind him, Ronaldo is still expected to make positive contributions to Portugal at Euro 2024 in Germany. CR7 scored more goals than Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe in Euro qualifiers. He scored 10 goals for Portugal, helping Roberto Martinez’s team become the only team to achieve a winning record in the qualifying round.
Besides Ronaldo, coach Martinez also has many quality options on the offensive front such as Bruno Fernandes, Goncalo Ramos, Joao Felix, Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leao.
Ronaldo and Cancelo are two of the Portuguese players rested in the friendly match with Sweden. They will return in Portugal’s next match against Slovenia.
