Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted the European Championship in Germany will be “without doubt” the last of his glittering career.
The Portugal star — a champion in 2016 — is the all-time record scorer in the competition’s history with 14 goals.
He is yet to score in this summer’s tournament but remains in with a chance of a fairytale sign-off and another title after Portugal survived a penalty shootout against Slovenia in the last 16 to advance to the quarter-finals.
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Ronaldo will be 43 by the time of the next Euros, which will be held in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and confirmed what many onlookers would have suspected and that he isn’t planning on playing.
“It is, without doubt, my last European Championship,” Ronaldo told Portuguese newspaper O Jogo after the game.
“But I’m not emotional about that. I’m moved by all that football means — by the enthusiasm I have for the game, the enthusiasm for seeing my supporters, my family, the affection people have for me.
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“It’s not about leaving the world of football. What else is there for me to do or win? It’s not going to come down to one point more or one point less. Making people happy is what motivates me the most.”
Ronaldo had to overcome a personal rollercoaster of emotions in Frankfurt after seeing a penalty halfway through extra-time saved by Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
He was left in tears and had to be consoled by team-mates at the break only to score the first spot kick of the shootout as Portugal went on to win and book a meeting with France on Friday.
“You don’t fail if you don’t try,” Ronaldo continued. “Obviously it’s frustrating when you don’t score, but it’s forgotten now. The final result is the most important thing.
“Sometimes it’s hard to score penalties. I’ve lost on penalties twice this year but today I won. Football has to be fair sometimes and today it was.”
(Masashi Hara/Getty Images)