Cristiano Ronaldo wants to play for 'many more years', hopes to win World Cup with Portugal
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Published 30/12/2020 at 20:20 GMT
Retirement is not on the mind of Cristiano Ronaldo. The 35-year-old Juventus forward says he wants to continue playing for several years and has also set his sights on winning the 2022 World Cup with Portugal, even at an age when many players would be thinking of retirement. He is the leading scorer in Serie A this season with 12 goals.
Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo
Image credit: Getty Images
Cristiano Ronaldo says he hopes to continue playing for “many, many years” and winning the World Cup with Portugal would be a “dream”.
The 35-year-old is under contract with Juventus until 2022 and is the top scorer in Serie A this season. He also needs only seven international goals to equal Ali Daei’s world record of 109.
Asked at the Golden Foot awards if he had any plans to retire, he said: "It doesn't matter the age. What is important is the mind.
"It doesn't matter if Cristiano is good, you don't know tomorrow what is going to happen. I live in the present, in the moment.
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'It's a dream' - Ronaldo on his World Cup hopes for Portugal
“The moment is good, I feel happy, I feel sharp and in a good moment in my life. I hope to play many, many years more but you never know.
“This is football, we don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. When I speak to young boys I always say 'enjoy the moment' because we never know what will happen. My eyes see the future very, very bright, so I am happy with that.”
Ronaldo has won silverware throughout his career at club level and also tasted success with Portugal at Euro 2016 and the Nations League finals last year.
After the rearranged Euros next summer, Ronaldo hopes to lift the World Cup with his country in 2022.
"We won 2016 and now we want to win the World Cup," said Ronaldo, who will be 37 when the World Cup starts in Qatar.
“It's possible, yes, it's possible. Everything is possible. But you have to be realistic as well. As I told you many, many times, my dream is to win something for Portugal national team and I won two titles, which is making me feel happy.
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“I win [with] every club that I played with, but World Cup… it's a dream. It's a dream."
Ronaldo also said he is not enjoying playing games behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"I don't like to play in the stadiums without fans, it's like going to the circus but you don't see clowns.
"The pandemic has made people crazy. I hope soon they can open the gates of the stadiums. We have to live with that, we have to try to do a normal life but of course we have to respect the rules. But to play without the fans, I really don't like it."
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