In 2015 Cristiano Ronaldo was declared the best Portuguese player of all time, as chosen by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Ronaldo was declared the best in competition with Portuguese stars Eusebio and Luis Figo, on the occasion of the centenary of the FPF.

The Portuguese striker received a flattering recognition only 48 hours after he received the “Golden Ball” for the third time in his career for the best player in the world in 2014, at the time still as a Real Madrid player.

Ronaldo is, of course, included in the ideal Portugal team of all time – along with Vitor Baija, Fernando Couto, Joao Pinto, Ricardo Carvalho, Umberto Coelho, Mario Coluna, Rui Costa, Luis Figo, Futre and Eusebio.

Harry Pot / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ronaldo made his debut for Portugal on August 20, 2003 in a match against Kazakhstan, when coach Luis Felipe Scolari gave him a chance. Since then, Cristiano has played 196 games and scored 118 goals. He almost holds all the records in representative football.

In addition to sharing the first place for the most matches played for his national team, Ronaldo is the top scorer in the history of international football with 118 goals.

Ronaldo reborn Portuguese football, and in total he appeared at the European and World Championships 10 times (five at each).

Although the first tournament with Portugal brought him great sadness, a defeat by Greece in the Euro 2004 final (1:0), Ronaldo vowed to bring the title to Portugal for the rest of his career. He managed to do that, as he played a big role in Portugal’s historic trophy in 2016, even though he was injured in the European Championship final against France. Then he scored three goals and recorded the same number of assists at the tournament in France.

Oleg Dubyna from Poltava, Ukraine, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It must also be mentioned that Cristiano won the League of Nations with Portugal in 2019.

In total, he scored eight goals at the World Cups, while he had a significantly better performance at the European Championship (14), where he also provided nine assists.

Nevertheless, Ronaldo is 37 years old today, he will be 38 next year, and by the time of the next World Cup, he will already be in his fifth decade of life, and it is suspected that the championship in Qatar will be his last. That’s why he had a very emotional reaction after the defeat against Morocco at the World Cup in Qatar, when he already burst into tears when leaving the field.