Cristiano Ronaldo had tears in his eyes as he walked off the field and seemingly into international retirement.
It was the 2022 World Cup and Portugal had just lost to Morocco in the quarterfinals, a shocking result that left Ronaldo inconsolable.
He was nearly 38 years old. Unarguably past his best. No longer a guaranteed starter for his country.
Was this the last time the soccer world would see Ronaldo — one of the game’s greatest-ever players — in a Portugal jersey?
We really shouldn’t have underestimated him.
Eighteen months later, Ronaldo is still scoring hat tricks, still breaking records, still owning that will to win and self-belief — not to mention the toned physique — which has long set him apart from pretty much anyone else.
And still a key member of the Portugal team heading to the European Championship in Germany as one of the tournament favorites.
Indeed, Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, who was hired weeks after the World Cup, has retained the 39-year-old Ronaldo as captain.
“For us, he brings that experience,” Martinez said, “but, more than anything, probably the biggest surprise is that he approaches every day as a new way to be the best, a new way to keep impressing.”
The Euros represent an opportunity for Ronaldo to remind soccer fans that he is still a force in the game.
Since the start of 2023, he has been playing in Saudi Arabia, pretty much out of the global spotlight and in a league that has thrown money at some high-profile — if maybe over-the-hill — superstars to generate attention and change the impression of soccer in the kingdom.
Ronaldo, earning a reported $200 million a year, is still pouring in the goals — he was the top scorer in the Saudi Pro League with 35, a record in that division — even if critics have been quick to point out the low standard of play in the country.
“We don’t make choices based on where the players play,” said Martinez, who could not be more impressed with what Ronaldo has been doing in Saudi.
“He has become a central figure of a new project and the important thing for us, as a national team coach, is that he has been able to carry on scoring goals,” Martinez said.
“His stats are better than anything, subjectively, that you can say. He’s been the top goal scorer in 2023 in world football and he makes a total new beginning in a league that in the next few years is going to be talked about a lot.”
Ronaldo committed himself to Portugal even though it looked like his time with the national team was up after being benched for its knockout-stage games at the World Cup.
However, Portugal changed coaches — Martinez came in for Fernando Santos — and Ronaldo felt he still had plenty more to offer, not least adding to his world record of goals scored in men’s internationals that now stands at 128.
In a qualifying group for the Euros that didn’t feature any of Portugal’s top rivals, Ronaldo started nine of the 10 games and scored 10 goals — only behind Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku (14). He was captain whenever he started.
In short, Martinez fully believes in Ronaldo, a player he describes as “an iconic figure of the game,” heading into what will be the striker’s record-extending sixth European Championship and 11th major tournament.
“He keeps making the difference,” Martinez said, “and I think that, for us, this is a wonderful example for young players.”
Key is whether Ronaldo will be trusted — and he has the all-round fitness and sharpness — for the biggest games. He wasn’t in Qatar, after all.
Portugal has been drawn in a benign group on paper, also featuring Turkiye, the Czech Republic and tournament debutant Georgia. But, what if Portugal plays France or the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, as could happen according to the knockout bracket: Does Ronaldo start then?
A big difference to the World Cup is that his backup, Goncalo Ramos, hasn’t been a regular starter at Paris Saint-Germain since his move from Benfica. He isn’t pushing Ronaldo for a starting place as much as he was in Qatar, where he arrived in red-hot form.
Martinez seems willing to forgo some of Ronaldo’s limitations — his inability to press as well as others, for example — because he is still so dangerous in front of goal.
Ronaldo has a long list of exciting midfielders and wingers ready to feed him chances — Bruno Fernandes, Rafael Leao, Diogo Jota, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix. With holding midfielder Joao Palhinha protecting so well a defense that conceded just two goals in the entire qualifying campaign, there’s so much to like about Portugal’s chances in Germany.
Ronaldo saw his longtime rival, Lionel Messi, grab all the limelight at the World Cup by leading Argentina to the title.
Maybe there’s one more big major tournament left in Ronaldo, too.

 

WASHINGTON: NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic and sharpshooter Kyrie Irving spearhead the upstart Dallas Mavericks against the favored Boston Celtics when the NBA Finals begin on Thursday.

Ex-Celtics standout Irving is bracing for a hostile road reception in Boston, five years after quitting the franchise for Brooklyn, leaving Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to turn the Celtics into the league’s top club with an NBA-high 64 wins this season.

“They’re the best team in the NBA,” Doncic said. “They have by far the best record, some incredible weapons on offense and defense so we’re going to have to play really hard and amazing basketball to beat them.”

Tatum lifted the Celtics into the 2022 final, where they lost to Golden State but planted seeds that could bring a trophy starting with the best-of-seven opener in Boston.

“There’s a lot myself, and we, can learn from the experience of being in the finals and this go-around is a lot different,” Tatum said. “I’m really just looking at it as a second chance and trying to simplify things as much as we can.”

The Celtics seek an unprecedented 18th all-time NBA crown, one more than the record they share with the Los Angeles Lakers. Boston’s most recent title came in 2008.

The Mavericks won their only NBA title in 2011 after reaching the 2006 final, losing to Miami.

Irving will be the emotional heart of the series after his Boston stay and a playoff return with Brooklyn that went poorly.

“I’m better at consolidating the emotions now,” Irving said. “You call it animosity. We call it hate. We call it, ‘It’s going to be hell in Boston.’“

“The last time in Boston (in the playoffs with Brooklyn), I don’t think that was the best... everyone saw me flip off the birds and kind of lose my (cool) a little bit.

“I wasn’t my best self at that time. I’ve been able to grow since then... I’m looking forward to it. I’ll take the brunt of it, all the yells and all the remarks.

“That wasn’t a great reflection of who I am and how I like to compete on a high level.”

He’s on a high now, averaging 22.8 points in the playoffs as Slovenian guard Doncic, who averaged 33 points in the regular season, averages 28.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the playoffs.

Boston counters with two of the NBA’s top defensive guards in Jrue Holiday and Derrick White.

“There’s really no stopping them. You just try to make it difficult for them,” White said. “They’re going to take tough shots and they’re going to make tough shots. Just trust that over 48 minutes what we’re doing is going to work.”

Tatum averages 26.0 points and 10.4 rebounds in the playoffs while Brown averages 25.0 points with White and Holiday providing strong support and the team leading the NBA in 3-point shots and baskets. The Celtics are 9-0 when hitting 14 or more three-pointers.

“Boston shoots the three at a high rate,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “They have a lot of talented players. They’ve been here before, they have the experience. They’re well-coached. This is another great test.”

Dallas center Dereck Lively isn’t sweating the experience factor.

“They have a lot of tradition, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is who’s going to go harder on the court,” Lively said. “It’s going to be a dogfight out there, but we’re going to keep swinging and see what happens.”

Boston, which defeated the Mavericks in both meetings this season, expects to have Latvian center Kristaps Porzingis back from a right calf strain suffered on April 29 in the first round against Miami that benched him for 10 games.

“He has been working extremely hard just to get back and to help us in any way he can,” White said.

“When KP is at his best, he has been tremendous for us,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We expect that from him.”