Determined to participate in the sixth World Cup finals, which will constitute a record number of individual participations, Cristiano Ronaldo He took the lead on the missing step Portugal To qualify for Thursday’s match (16:45 Argentine time; broadcast by ESPN) vs Ireland in Dublinfor the fifth appointment of Group F of European qualifiers. “The Aviva Stadium will boo me. I’m used to itAnd the truth is that I hope they whistle at me. Maybe this way it takes the pressure off the other players. What I want most is to have fun. It is not decisive, but almost; We know that by winning we will qualify. We want to judge him now,” said Cristiano Ronaldo in the pre-match press conference.
Portugal will secure its place in the World Cup by defeating Ireland or adding two points in the final two dates (next Sunday it will host Armenia). After an ambiguous performance in Qatar 2022, when he scored just one goal (from a penalty kick) and ended up coming off the bench in the last two matches, Cristiano regained his best version of himself in the national team with the coach. Roberto Martinezwhich he holds under his command 25 goals in 28 matches And I reached registerwith 40 pointsl All-time top scorer in any continent’s qualifiers.
Cristiano added: “I am very happy. I am living a good moment in the Martinez era, and I want to continue like this.” In February he will be 41 years old. As he became a veteran, he abandoned the left wing and took on the role of centre-forward, shortening the distance to goal.
He spoke relaxed and in a good mood about the other recent topic surrounding the CR7, The countdown has about 1000 goals. in 1296 matches addition 953. In Al-Nasr, he finds in Saudi football the appropriate conditions for his effectiveness to remain high (103 goals in 116 matches). In the press conference, they conveyed his dream of scoring the 1,000th goal in the World Cup final. Cristiano, who is never intimidated by challenges, replied: “I’ve watched a lot of films (laughs), it would be so perfect. Coming back to reality, all this data makes me happy. The team never depends on one player, but I like to make the difference with goals. It’s always good to score goals, that’s my attitude. I want to play in the next World Cup; otherwise I wouldn’t be here. But let’s go step by step.”
And about the CR7 racing to 1000 he gave his opinion Carlo Ancelotti, Who managed him for two years at Real Madrid: “Cristiano is a professional who loves football, and is passionate about this sport. He will definitely reach 1,000 goals, but when he achieves that, don’t forget to invite me to celebrate this amazing record.”
More than two decades after making his top-flight debut at Sporting Lisbon, Cristiano responded to a question about whether scoring is now easier than before: “Scoring goals is the hardest thing in football. I think I was smart to adapt to modern footballPhysically and mentally; To different clubs, to the national team, to different leagues. I think a really smart player adapts to football conditions, and that’s how it should be. I will continue to think this way until I retire. You have to adapt; Football is not what it was five years ago. “What distinguishes great players is their intelligence and their ability to think.”
Coach Martinez was consulted about his approach to managing the final phase of Cristiano’s national team career and whether he feels extra pressure to win the striker’s final World Cup. “We talked about it several times. For the technical staff, the important thing is to win the next match, to ensure qualification. It’s not about thinking it’s the player’s last World Cup, but rather the five tournaments he’s already participated in. I talked about this the day the call was announced. Talking about the World Cup and looking to the future has become taboo. The coach replied: “Now we are talking about Ireland and we want to play well.”
With a contract with Al-Nasr until 2027, Cristiano does not see his retirement from football coming soon: “People think that when I talk about my retirement soon it means within six months or a year. I’m kidding! I’m 40 years old, my body is in good shape and I keep scoring to help my team.” I want to keep winning titles. “This is my life”.
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