THE President of Sporting de Braga, António Salvador, today considered that Cristiano Ronaldo is an inspiration for “players, coaches, managers and clubs”, on the day the footballer announced his departure from the national team.
“Ronaldo was and is much more than an individual who projected himself at a stratospheric level. He inspired and still inspires players, coaches, managers and clubs, teaching us that being from Portugal is not a limitation, but a privilege. Let us all know that we are worthy of his legacy so that, in our own way, we can repeat it daily”, can be read in a message on social media from the leader of the Braga club.
António Salvador noted that “Ronaldo’s 23 years with the Portugal shirt coincide” with his “23 years as president of Sporting de Braga”.
“I was, therefore, witness to the enormous international career of our captain, who I saw emerge as a boy and whom I soon recognized as the brilliance of eternal geniuses”, he praised, adding: “At the moment when the best player in the history of the national team says goodbye to the team of us all, no feeling overrides collective gratitude”.
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.
