Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo dismissed suggestions he had considered ending his international career in the near future, adding that post-Euro criticism did not worry him.
Portugal host Croatia in their Nations League opener on Thursday before welcoming Scotland in League A Group One on Sunday, with manager Roberto Martinez naming Ronaldo to the squad for the two matches. «That's all from the press.
It never crossed my mind that my cycle [with Portugal] had come to an end,» Ronaldo said in a news conference Monday. «Quite the opposite: it gave me even more motivation to continue to be honest.» «The motivation is to come to the national team to win the Nations League… We've already won it once and we want to do it again.
I might say the same thing over and over again, but I don't think long term, it's always short term.» Ronaldo captained Portugal to success in the opening edition of the Nations League in 2018-19, three years after they became European Champions for the first time in France. «Until the end of my career, I will always have the mindset that I will be a starter,» Ronaldo added. «What I feel at the moment, and the coach's [Roberto Martinez] words also demonstrate this, is that I continue to be an asset to the national team and I will be the first [to admit it] if that isn't the case. »When I'm [no longer] an asset I will be the first to leave.