RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – Cristiano Ronaldo said Tuesday that at age 41 he expects his record sixth World Cup next year to be his last.
“Of course I do, because I’m already 41 years old.” Ronaldo told CNN Anchor Becky Anderson links live video from a training camp in Portugal to a tourism conference in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo clarified that when he says he will retire from football “soon,” it should mean “probably a year or two.”
Portugal should qualify for the World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, in the coming days. The team needs two points from Thursday’s game against Ireland and Sunday’s final qualifying group game against bottom-placed Armenia.
Ronaldo scored five goals in four qualifying matches, extending his world record for men’s national team goals to 143.
“I feel really good at the moment. I scored a goal, I still have the speed and sharpness and I’m enjoying playing for the national team,” he said.
“To be honest, by soon I mean probably a year or two,” Ronaldo said of the end of his playing career.
“I’m enjoying the moment right now. But when I say soon, I mean really soon, because I give everything to football. I’ve been in this game for the last 25 years and I’ve done everything.”
“I have a lot of records and I’m really proud of them. So let’s enjoy the moment and live in the moment.”
Ronaldo and his great rival Lionel Messi will be playing in a record sixth World Cup. If he does, he will break the line with Germany’s great player Lothar Matthäus, who played in each World Cup from 1982 to 1998.
Argentina captain Messi enters as the defending champion and will turn 39 during the group stage in North America.
Portugal and Argentina are among the co-hosts of the 2030 World Cup, giving Ronaldo and Messi the chance to exit the World Cup at home.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
