Cristiano Ronaldo is confident his legacy will not be impacted by his inability to win the World Cup.
Ronaldo and Portugal saw their World Cup dreams go up in smoke as they were beaten 1-0 by Morocco in their quarter-final in Qatar. Ronaldo went straight down the tunnel in tears after missing out on the chance to add the only major honour missing from his glittering CV.
The pain of that disappointment was clearly tough to take for the 37-year-old, who previously admitted this World Cup would be his “last international tournament”. However, on the eve of the competition, Ronaldo stated his confidence that whatever happened in Qatar would not impact his wider legacy.
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Asked if this World Cup would decide the debate about football’s greatest ever player, Ronaldo said: “Even if I win the World Cup that will continue. Some people like me more, some less. It’s like in life, some like blondes, some like brunettes.
“I have always had to show what I can do year after year. I would love to win this tournament. I’m ambitious but if you tell me I won’t win any more tournaments I would still be happy given all I have won. In the history books all other records will be there. But obviously a World Cup on the shelf wouldn’t be bad. It would be a dream.”
Ronaldo’s record-equalling fifth and final campaign has been shrouded in controversy after he abruptly had his contract cancelled by Manchester United on the eve of the tournament then was dropped by manager Fernando Santos for the knockout stages.
He was involved in frank conversations with Santos after showing his frustration when substituted against South Korea in Portugal’s final group stage game, an incident which saw him replaced by Goncalo Ramos against both South Korea and Morocco.
Speaking before what proved their final World Cup game, manager Santos explained: “Yes we did have a conversation. It would have been bad if we had not had this conversation.
Playing down suggestions Ronaldo threatened to quit the camp, he added: “Since I took the helm of the national team we needed to have a closer relationship with the players. That’s my approach, to have a close relationship with them.
“So, that conversation needed to happen. I don’t do that with all the players. But he’s the captain of our squad. What he represents for Portuguese football, the people and its national team, I naturally needed to talk to him.
“I talked to him after lunch on the match day ahead of the Switzerland game. I did not have any conversation before that. It was the only conversation I had with him on that day and I explained to him why he would not be playing. I explained why he wouldn’t be started. I did it so he wouldn’t be surprised."
