Portugal centre-back Jose Fonte believes Cristiano Ronaldo will still be leading the national team until 'at least' Euro 2024.
The Manchester United star guided his country to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar this week following a 2-0 play-off final victory over North Macedonia. The 37-year-old will now feature in his fifth finals, with Portugal set to go into the tournament with a high-quality squad.
Ronaldo recently said he felt as if he could play into his forties, and Fonte agrees. Speaking to talkSPORT, the Lille defender said: “I think he’s left it pretty clear in his last interview, he’s the one who decides his future.
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“I think that physically he feels good, he feels great. If he had the chance to win it and the chance to keep performing at the highest stages then he’ll keep playing, as he said.”
Fonte, who featured in the 3-1 win over Turkey in the play-off semi-finals, backed Ronaldo to lead Portugal at Euro 2024 and maybe beyond. He added: “Nobody knows exactly what he has in his mind, so only he can decide his future.
“He wants to play and keep playing so I would assume that he will be in Qatar, and not only in Qatar but in the next Euros at least.” Fonte believes Portugal could have a successful World Cup in December, despite being unable to win their qualification group, with Fernando Santos’ squad packed with talent.
“I must say, I haven’t seen a squad like this next one coming up with so much talent and so much quality all over the pitch," he added. "I really believe that the future is bright.
"I fully believe that if we get it right then we are in major contention to be winning tournaments because we have so much quality and so much talent in [Joao] Felix, [Diogo] Jota, Bruno Fernandes. We have centre-backs like Tiago Djalo, Ruben Dias and then you have Joao Cancelo, Diogo Dalot and Nuno Mendes."
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