Cristiano Ronaldo’s goodbye tour has been eight years long. Why didn’t he just retire in 2018?
Is this the end of Cristiano Ronaldo’s love affair with Portugal? It certainly appears so after the latest drama in what has undoubtedly been the most earth-shattering international break ever.
For some, including his millions of worshippers, Ronaldo was right to walk out on his country after alleged provocation and broken promises from Jorge Jesus. For others, there was no excuse for his behaviour, especially given his age, and the 41-year-old’s departure long overdue.
As for the most famous sportsman on the planet, he has now revealed his own truth in a remarkable 1,740 word statement. It leaves us with a lot of questions with one being: how different might things have looked if Ronaldo had not left Real Madrid or retired in 2018?
Cristiano Ronaldo was on top of the world in 2018
Of course, that is not to diminish what he has achieved since. Any mere mortal would be beyond thrilled. But Ronaldo has never viewed himself as that, which has been a key component of his all-time career.
Anyway, let’s roll it back eight years to the summer of 2018. Portugal may have suffered yet another early World Cup exit – losing to Uruguay in the Round of 16 – but their star man was still on top of the world.
While his team struggled, Ronaldo did not, scoring a hat-trick against Spain in the opening game of the tournament, rescuing them with a stunning late free kick.
He had also captained his country to their first-ever major trophy two years earlier, part-coaching them in the final after an untimely injury. It saw him fully surpass the likes of Eusebio and Luis Figo and crowned the undisputed king of Portuguese football.
At club level, he was untouchable. Real Madrid had just won their third consecutive European Cup, the first side to do so since Bayern Munich in the mid-1970s.
While Gareth Bale took over in Kyiv, Ronaldo had already hit four in finals over the years, and was the driving force as per for Los Blancos.
His 15 goals – including that bicycle kick against Juventus – saw him take the top scorer award for a record seventh time, and for a ludicrous sixth consecutive season.
Five European Cups had been lifted, and with arguably the two most famous clubs in the world. He was, and is, Mr. Champions League, which has been sometimes forgotten or ignored in recent times.
The individual honours just kept rolling with Ronaldo then the two-time defending Ballon d’Or winner, having won four of his overall five from 2013 to 2017. It was safe to say he had enjoyed a perfect career outside of lifting the World Cup.
With Qatar over four years away, Ronaldo could have called it quits at this point with his status as possibly the best ever to do it already secured. Given what we know about him and his unparalleled drive, that was never a possibility though.
He could have stayed at the Bernabeu, though. A fall out with Florentino Perez over how the president viewed the No. 7 was the primary reason for his exit according to the man himself. What happened next is perhaps the longest goodbye tour since Elton John.
Nothing ever felt quite the same, which is summed up by the fact Ronaldo has not played in a Champions League semi-final since swapping Madrid for Turin in July 2018. That’s not to say it was all bad.
There were 101 goals for Juve, including the most clutch of hat-tricks to turn around a Round of 16 tie with, you guessed it, Atletico Madrid in his first season. Two Scudettos were won, along with a couple of Player of the Year awards and a golden boot. He is the only player to finish as top scorer in Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League.
However, he was brought to Italy to help the team finally get over the hump in Europe after two final losses, one of which saw Ronaldo put two past them in Cardiff. That did not come near to happening with the Old Lady by now an old team. His fee and wages have contributed to their ongoing decline.
That’s not on Ronaldo himself, nor was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking less than three months into his iconic return to Old Trafford that broke the internet on deadline day in August 2021.
He sped up an inevitable process but did give a new generation of fans moments to cherish with 24 goals in his one full comeback season. Ronaldo remains the oldest player to score 15 goals or more in a Premier League campaign.
His toxic final few months at the club, which ended with an embarrassing scorched earth interview with Piers Morgan, gave us an insight into a superhuman struggling with slowing down. It’s where the Homelander comparisons began, and partly mirrors his Portugal exit with Jesus playing Erik ten Hag.
He did still have good times with the national team post-2018 – winning two Nations League titles, scoring a boatload more goals and top scoring EURO 2020. Again though, there were no more semi-finals and several low points.
No Ronaldo discussion can be had without a mention of Lionel Messi, his greatest rival aside from father time. The GOAT debate is over for most but in 2018, it was very much up in the air. The Argentine had won nothing at international level while Barcelona were amid a disastrous run of Champions League humiliations.
A World Cup win, along with a pair of Copa Americas, ended the argument alongside three questionable Ballon d’Ors that moved Messi onto a record eight.
While his old foe turned out one last time for an emotional Argentina farewell appearance in Buenos Aires – against the might of Benin – Ronaldo is out in the cold with his famous number already being passed on to Rafael Leao due to UEFA rules.
He will surely be afforded a goodbye or two of his own at some point. It will be demanded. There is also so much to this story given Ronaldo’s undeniable devotion to Portugal and the fact Jesus and he worked together last season at Al Nassr.
But for now, his career will end in the backwaters of the Saudi Pro League as he continues to chase 1000 career goals. It would be the latest in a near-endless list of remarkable records, notably the most international caps (234), most international goals (146) and most Real Madrid goals (450).
His legacy will not be tainted by this final act in years to come – look at Maradona and Zidane – albeit it already is to many given a dismissed but highly-contentious legal case.
Maybe it could have been different. If he’d stayed with Real. If he’d shockingly retired in 2018. If he’d not left Jorge Mendes in 2023. While he has firmly outlined his own truth, the Shakespearean reality is that what made Ronaldo what he was is ultimately why it’s ending like this.
