Roberto Martinez has declared his intention to speak to Cristiano Ronaldo about his role on the Portugal team following his involvement in the World Cup. Fernando Santos had dismissed the forward from the team’s last two knockout games in Qatar, however, Martinez has declared his eagerness to make contact with him since taking over as head coach.
On Monday, it was confirmed that Martinez is the new Portugal manager, though his performance at the World Cup with Belgium had been subpar. He has come to a verbal agreement and will reach out to the new Al-Nassr forward to determine what role they will have. At his first press conference after being appointed Portugal’s manager, Martinez expressed his ambition to build the most successful team he could.
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Martinez on if he will select CR7:
“I want to talk to the players first. Cristiano is part of my list. He has presented 19 great years with the national team and deserves respect. Tomorrow I will start my work and get to know the players and Cristiano among them.” pic.twitter.com/qfmd5v2gSy
— The CR7 Timeline. (@TimelineCR7) January 9, 2023
He said “I want to talk to the players first. Cristiano is part of my list. He has presented 19 great years with the national team and deserves respect. Tomorrow I will start my work and get to know the players and Cristiano among them.”
Martinez has taken over a team that is in a state of transition. Many of the players in Santos‘ team for Qatar – such as Ronaldo, Pepe, and Rui Patricio – are nearing the end of their playing days. However, the country can look forward to an exciting new generation of talent, such as Joao Felix, Ruben Dias, Diogo Costa, Rafael Leao, and Goncalo Ramos – all of whom are 25 or younger.
This group of youngsters made their mark against Switzerland and Morocco, with Ramos taking the place of Ronaldo in the starting line–up.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s contribution to the Portugal national team
Cristiano Ronaldo is a renowned Portuguese professional footballer who has been a forward for the Portugal national football team since his inaugural appearance on 20 August 2003 in a friendly against Kazakhstan. He scored his first international goal on 12 June 2004 in a UEFA Euro 2004 group stage match against Greece.
His impressive performance has earned him the title of the all-time top scorer for the Portugal national team and the highest overall men’s international goalscorer ever, with a total of 118 goals scored in 196 appearances.
On 6 September 2013, Ronaldo achieved his first hat trick in an international competition against Northern Ireland in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier. He has since gone on to score ten international hat-tricks, and on two occasions, four international goals in a single match.
Ronaldo has made appearances in twelve major international tournaments: five UEFA European Championships in 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020, five FIFA World Cups in 2006, 2010, 2015, 2018, and 2022, one FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017, and one UEFA Nations League Finals in 2019.
At the UEFA Euro 2016, Ronaldo lifted the trophy as his team’s captain and was also awarded the Silver Boot as the joint second-highest goalscorer of the tournament, with three goals and three assists; he was also named to the team of the tournament for the third time in his career.
This Cristiano Ronaldo Stats is astonishing 🐐🤯 pic.twitter.com/a9ViwemzG1
— TCR. (@TeamCRonaldo) October 15, 2022
He holds the record for the most goals scored at the European Championships (14), eight at the World Cup finals, seven in the UEFA Nations League, and two at the Confederations Cup.
Ronaldo has scored a total of 50 goals in European qualification matches (36 in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and 31 in UEFA Euro qualifiers). The remaining 20 goals have come in friendly matches, with Luxembourg being his most frequent opponent against whom he has scored nine goals.
His most prolific ground is Estádio Algarve, where he has scored 16 international goals. On 12 October 2021, Ronaldo scored his tenth international hat trick, setting a new record previously held by Sven Rydell with Sweden.