Just now, a bombshell news came. According to the latest news from the British media outlet The Telegraph, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo has lost his goal of moving forward in his national team career, and he will announce an important decision in the coming weeks. For the 39-year-old, perhaps the time for farewell has arrived.
It is reported that the performance in this European Championship is the key to Ronaldo's idea of retirement. After five games, the Portuguese star was clearly feeling a little overwhelmed. So far, Ronaldo's statistics in this cup have been very poor. His 23 shots were the highest of any player, but they failed to find the back of the net. You must know that he also had the opportunity to score a penalty in the last game, but unfortunately he didn't take it. This shot conversion rate is really poor. For Cristiano Ronaldo, who has always relied on archery skills to compete in football, the degradation of this basic skill has completely deprived him of his foothold on the pitch.
Nowadays, Ronaldo's physical function has declined very obviously, after losing his explosiveness and sprinting speed. Ronaldo's role on the pitch has become very one-dimensional. More often than not, he could only lie in wait in the box for his team-mates to pass the ball, use his experience to get out of space and shoot. Years of accumulation of marksmanship are a guarantee that he will be able to score goals at the age of 39. However, the high-intensity competition of the European Cup made Ronaldo a little confused. Defended by the top defenders opposite, Ronaldo did not pose any threat at all. This match is even more so against Saliba. In front of the young French centre-back, Ronaldo simply didn't have the strength to fight, not even a decent shot. The 29 touches of the ball showed that Ronaldo was completely controlled.
And after such a bad cup competition, for Ronaldo he himself has accepted the current result. In the past, Ronaldo would habitually shed tears and walk back to the locker room crying when he was eliminated from the competition. I thought that after Ronaldo was eliminated in the last European Cup, he would still be like this. But the Portuguese star didn't, when France scored their fifth penalty. The camera was also given to Ronaldo, and he did not shed tears this time but smiled with relief. It's mixed with a little sadness, but it's more of an acceptance of the current status quo. Perhaps he himself knew that he was not capable of changing all this.
After the game, Ronaldo also uncharacteristically accepted the result very calmly. He even has the kung fu to comfort his old partner Pepe, who cried sadly after being eliminated. In the eyes of many media and outside fans, the reason why Ronaldo did not cry this time may be that he had expected this result a long time ago. After all, in terms of his personal ability, it is unrealistic to change his life against the sky against the French team and carry Portugal through goals. That's why he's so calm after he's out.
Now that the journey of the last European Championship is over, it is indeed time for Ronaldo to think about his future direction. After all, he is 39 years old and is no longer the football superstar who always responds to doubts with goals. The decline in age and the replacement of the old and new in the national team are all issues for him to consider. And this European Cup Ronaldo has been determined to be the last one, so Ronaldo will not appear in the European Cup in 4 years. As for the World Cup, it will be two years away. By that time, Ronaldo himself would be 41 years old, and his state was not as good as it is now, so Ronaldo basically wouldn't play. Some time ago, some media broke the news that Ronaldo may compete in the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, which is basically nonsense.
In the case that there is no chance to play in the competition, Ronaldo's choice to retire from the national team at this stage must not be surprising to fans. I believe that many fans are also ready and just waiting for the moment when the 39-year-old veteran says goodbye. I don't know if this time, Ronaldo chooses to retire from the national team or has more other ideas. What do you think about Ronaldo's decision to be announced?