Cristiano Ronaldo said that he won’t rush into a decision about his future following Portugal’s exit to Spain in his last World Cup match on Monday.
The 41-year-old Portugal great said on the eve of the last-16 encounter, which his team lost 1-0, that this was his final World Cup.
Asked afterwards late Monday night, June 6, about what comes next, he said: “It was my last World Cup, yes, but I’ll have time to think about the rest, to be with my family, not make rash decisions, and just get on with life. That’s football, that’s the life of a footballer. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and you have to move on.”
Ronaldo, the leading scorer in the history of men’s international football, said he would leave the World Cup stage “with a clear conscience”.
“The truth is, the biggest title I won with the national team was in 2016 (Euros), which for me is just as significant as a World Cup, honestly,” he said. “That’s why, I repeat, I’m leaving with a clear conscience, at my best, and that’s it. Tomorrow is a new day, and life goes on.”
Ronaldo won the Euros with Portugal a decade ago but has never tasted World Cup glory. The highest point was a semi-final finish at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, where Portugal placed fourth.