Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese football legend who dazzled on the field and is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, announced on Thursday that he was retiring from international football. It was a sad ending to a celebrated career that began more than two decades ago, ahead of Euro 2004, and finished with him walking away from the national team following a fallout with coach Jorge Jesus. The 41-year-old, who played 234 times for Portugal and scored 146 goals, clashed with Jesus last month after the coach opted not to use him in a Nations League match, prompting Ronaldo to leave the team camp.
“To the Portuguese people, the day has come for me to hand back the No. 7 shirt of our national team,” the 41-year-old Ronaldo said in a long video message on social media.
“I never felt it belonged to me alone but for 23 years I had the privilege and the responsibility of wearing it, defending it and carrying it with me into stadiums all around the world.”
