JUNE 15, 2018.
THERE were at least 50 travellers waiting for their connecting flights inside a restaurant at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. Some of those travellers risked missing those connecting flights to other parts of Russia because the TV inside that restaurant was showing Portugal’s group stage clash against Spain.
For over an hour, the liquor flowed, the coffee mugs kept getting refilled, and weary housekeeping staff kept taking orders way beyond 10.00 PM local time. For over an hour, Cristiano Ronaldo was in the middle of compiling one of the greatest nights of his Portugal career, and his fans wanted a piece of him even if it was via TV.
Then, in the 88th minute, he sent a free-kick beyond the Spanish wall to equalise. It was his hat-trick, and it helped restore parity. Cue pandemonium. Alcohol was launched into the air, plates were broken, and people — most of whom had assembled in Russia to watch the World Cup — randomly hugged strangers wearing Ronaldo 7. Anthems were sung, and new chants were born. Hedonism in the land of communism.
Separated by passports but united in their love and affection for one of sport’s greatest ever footballers.
On Thursday, the 41-year-old, who has since become one of the most divisive footballers on the planet, said that he would be stepping away after the latest batch of internationals this month. Before delving into the November and December of his life as a Portugal player, it’s important to state the bleeding obvious.
No man or woman before Ronaldo quite had the impact he had in the international game. International football has existed for over 150 years, and Ronaldo is the leading appearance maker (234) as well as the leading goal-scorer (146). That’s the kind of legacy he will leave behind. It’s the kind that will keep him in the history books for centuries to come.
“It was not an easy decision, because there are decisions that are not made only with the head,” he said in a video. “They are also made with the heart. If I ever made you happy, if one of my goals ever made you hug someone, forget a worry or feel proud of our country, then it was all worth it. Portugal will always be a part of me.”
Because of Ronaldo, the opposite is also true. For a lot of football fans, especially millennials who grew up watching Manchester United and Real Madrid, they had become Portuguese fans.
The only truism in all of elite sport is the eventual appearance of Father Time, a phrase representative of ageing via an old, weary man carrying both a scythe and an hourglass. For at least the last few years, Ronaldo has increasingly tried to defy this phenomenon whenever he has played the game at the top level (the Euros and the World Cup).
At the World Cup earlier this year, Portugal were slow whenever Ronaldo was on the pitch. For so long, Ronaldo had made his country tick. He had made Portugal a quicker, stronger beast. In 2026, he had made them slower. It was true at the Euros in 2024 as well. One could go back to the World Cup in 2022 as well. Remember the time when Portugal took the decision to play a young striker (Goncalo Ramos) in place of their ageing legend? They beat Switzerland 6-1, with Ramos scoring a hat-trick. That was the first clear sign of Ronaldo’s fading powers. But nobody dared asked that question, and he was too driven to succeed that he didn’t even entertain that thought.
But, to be fair, Ronaldo as a force of nature wouldn’t have happened without his uncommon intensity and drive. For example, Lionel Messi’s genius was easy on the eye. But Ronaldo’s brilliance came from a place of wanting to be the best. So, he spent the last two decades for that purpose and that purpose alone. It’s why even as the body rebelled and the pace dwindled with the demands of the modern game, the mind wanted to keep going.
It’s why there will always be a certain sadness attached to late-stage Portugal-era Ronaldo. A lot of athletes have historically struggled to time ‘exit stage left’. But no athlete had ever so adamantly tried to own the centre of that stage long after ‘exit stage left’ had become the only option on the table.
In September, Ronaldo ran the risk of tarnishing — burning — a part of his legacy after he walked away from the national camp following allegations of ‘broken promises’ by new head coach Jorge Jesus. The ace attacker sat on the bench in a Nations League game against Norway. And when he wasn’t brought on, Ronaldo issued a missive with the words ‘the manager had broken his word to me’. “I decided to leave the training camp without waiting for any further broken promises.” For well over a decade, his ego and inflated sense of self-worth were fine because he had married it with his otherworldly talent. But massaging egos without the necessary talent can be a bit more challenging.
What next for the man who helped at least partly redraw the contours of world club football this century? Once he’s done with Portugal, he will go back to Saudi Arabia to keep alive his hunt for that 1000th career goal.