Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo kicked off preparations for the Nations League with a frank and open press conference as the Seleção squad assembled at the Cidade do Futebol on the outskirts of Lisbon.
Ronaldo and Roberto Martínez came in for harsh criticism after Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 by France, but the 39-year-old articulated an alternative point of view, saying expectations were unrealistically high and opining that the team played a good tournament.
Scorer of 130 goals for his country, Ronaldo also said he has no intention of retiring from the international game, adding that the criticism directed his way only spurs him on.
Tom Kundert rounds up the main quotes.
“That’s just press talk. The thought never crossed my mind. Quite the opposite. It gives me even more motivation to continue, to be honest.”
“The team played a good Euro. Not an excellent one, but a good Euro in my point of view.
“The expectations for Euro 2024 were too high, and people end up getting lost in their thoughts. What do I mean by that? If we’d won the penalty shootout we’ve have reached the semi-finals, and everyone would have been happy. We would have faced Spain, it could have well or badly, we don’t know.
“It seems it was a disappointment. In my opinion it wasn’t. It was part of the growth of the Seleção, with new players, a new structure, a new coach, who needs time to get the team playing the way he wants.
“Sincerely I think it was a positive tournament. Nobody likes losing, but I repeat, in my opinion it wasn’t a failure, it was a victory and we should be proud of that.”
Related: Roberto Martínez: “Ronaldo was well managed at Euro 2024”
“The spirit is positive. The past is the past. The most important thing is the present and to live in the present. We’re starting a new cycle, with new players and we are all in a positive frame of mind that things will go well – we have to think like that.”
“Criticism is excellent. If there is no criticism, there is no evolution. And I’m used to it. It has always been like that. It’s not going to change now. I try to follow my road, being as professional as possible. I try and help the Seleção and my club with the maximum professionalism, not only with goals but also with assists, with discipline
“Because football is much more than playing well, or scoring a goal, or providing an assist, and lots of people who give opinions about football don’t understand that, which I think is normal because they’ve never been in a changing room. It sometimes makes me laugh. It’s the same as me giving opinions about Formula 1. How am I going to give opinions about Formula 1 if I’ve never driven a Formula 1 car, for example.
“But criticism for me is good and is part of the game. Continue to criticise. The life of footballer is made up of good moments, less good moments, bad moments and that’s just as well because you can only improvise when something goes wrong. When things go well you can’t evolve. This applies in football and also in life in general. We have to face the less good times with optimism, light-heartedly, with calmness because this is life itself.”
“Some of the younger players are shy when talking to me. I just spoke to Quenda and asked him if he recovered well from the game. He was a bit shy.
“But those who know me, they know that here in the Seleção I’m like an older brother (or even like a father to some!) and I try and help them integrate well, because I also went through this process and I was always well received in the Seleção, and the Seleção is a family.
Related: Geovany Quenda, Renato Veiga and Tiago Santos get debut Portugal call-ups
“It’s the next competition. That’s what we’re all here for. To train and prepare as well as possible for a competition that we ‘ve already won once, and we want to repeat the feat. That is my motivation. Nowadays I don’t think in the long term – only in the short term.”
