As Cristiano Ronaldo took in the scene at AT&T Stadium following Portugal’s World Cup elimination this summer, there was a sense of finality in the tears that streamed down his face.
At age 41, the prolific forward had likely just played his final World Cup match—and it ended in the familiar pain of defeat. Ronaldo now had to finally accept he would never add the golden trophy to his cabinet, ending a dream 23 years in the making.
