Cristiano Ronaldo has vowed to continue playing at the top level until at least 2024 and insisted the journey of his playing career “is not over yet”.
The Portuguese superstar was speaking at the Quinas de Ouro in his home nation after being recognised as the top international scorer for the year. Aged 37, Ronaldo has lost his starting spot at Manchester United but remains as important as ever at international level.
Ronaldo became the highest-ever goalscorer in international football a year ago while he has now scored a total of 117 goals for Portugal in 189 caps. He will captain his nation in this year’s World Cup finals and wants to have at least one more major international tournament left in his career.
This World Cup is his tenth major finals having starred initially in Euro 2004 for Portugal, while he played a key role in his side’s Euro 2016 triumph – the first time they had ever lifted a major international trophy – and in their inaugural Nations League triumph in 2019.
He now has his eyes set on a first ever World Cup triumph with Portugal among the outsiders for the competition, but with a wealth of talent including Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Joao Felix, Diogo Jota and Rafael Leao among their ranks.
Ronaldo said upon receiving the award on Tuesday night: "I hope to continue being part of the Portuguese international setup for a few more years. I feel motivated, my ambition is high. I am in a team with young people, I want to be in the World Cup but also in the next European Championships."
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The striker has started just one Premier League match so far for United and has been left out of the starting line-up for each of the side’s games in their four-match winning streak in the league. He has played from the start in the Europa League clashes against Real Sociedad and FC Sheriff, the latter of whom he netted against from the spot.
Amid doubts over his long-term future at Old Trafford, Ronaldo said upon receiving his award: "I am proud to receive an award of such magnitude. I never thought I could achieve it. It has been a long road but I would like to say that my journey is not over yet. There is still a little more of Cristiano left."
Ronaldo has scored 699 goals in club football and a total of 816 across his senior career and remains intent on adding to the 31 major honours he has won throughout his illustrious career.
