Cristiano Ronaldo was seen offering a shoulder to his teammate Pepe to cry on after their team was kicked out of the Euro 2024 on Friday following a 5-3 defeat from France in their quarter-final clash.
This was potentially the last international tournament for the 41-year-old Portuguese defender who was seen crying uncontrollably on the field after France sealed a dramatic shootout win against Portugal in Hamburg.
With the latest defeat, the future of Ronaldo, who marked his record sixth European Championship this year, hangs in balance as he is yet to decide whether he will continue playing for his national side, Goal reported.
Portugal’s 39-year-old captain previously said that Euro 2024 would be his last European competition with the national side but it is still uncertain whether he had played his last match with Portugal or not.
After the defeat, Portugal’s head coach Roberto Martinez opened up on Ronaldo’s future, saying that it is “too soon” to say if the star footballer is retiring from international football or not.
“It’s too soon and raw after the match to talk about that and there have been no individual decisions made,” Martinez said at a news conference when asked if it had been Ronaldo’s last game in a Portugal jersey.
Ronaldo ended his Euro 2024 campaign without scoring a single goal and that was the first time in his 20-year-long career that he failed to score in an international tournament.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star will be 41 years old when the 2026 World Cup begins in the United States, Canada and Mexico and whether he will represent Portugal there or not is still a question.
It is worth mentioning that Ronaldo won Euro 2016 after Portugal beat France in the final with Eder scoring the only goal during the extra time, marking Portugal’s first-ever major trophy.
