THE Nacional, the club in which Cristiano Ronaldo was part of the formation as a footballer, today praised the striker’s “absolutely extraordinary” journey serving the Portuguese national team, after the player announced his departure from the ‘quinas’ team.
“Today, more than remembering the numbers, the records or the titles, we want to thank the man and the athlete, who, for more than two decades, represented our country with extraordinary ambition and determination”, can be read on the ‘black and white’ official website.
As a club, Nacional had the “privilege of training him and witnessing his first steps in football”, during the two years in which the now Al Nassr player worked in the formation of the Madeiran club, between 1995 and 1997.
“It was here that the first dreams were born, that the first signs of an exceptional talent were revealed and that the path of a young man who would conquer the world, on and off the pitch, began to be built”, says the same note.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, announced today his withdrawal from the Portuguese football team, through a video posted on social media, on the eve of the squad for the final games in the Nations League being announced.
World record holder for national team games, with 234 ‘AA’ caps, and goals (146), the striker’s career highlights include winning Euro2016, in France and two editions of the Nations League, in 2019 and 2025, after the bad-memory final of Euro2004, in Portugal.
On September 30, the player left the national team training camp on the eve of the match against Denmark in the League of Nations, at the beginning of Jorge Jesus’ cycle as coach of the national team.
Ronaldo, who was a starter with Wales and an unused substitute with Norway, revealed that Jesus failed to speak to him more than once and that’s why he decided to leave the internship, a decision that cost him a 30-day ban, already served, and a fine of 255 euros.
