Cristiano Ronaldo has no plans to retire anytime soon and said in a recent interview that the body of work in his career motivates him to keep going at the age of 39.
“I'm proud to be this age and still compete at the highest level,” he said in the final episode of the series Whoop Podcast. “It's great and it gives me the motivation to keep going. If you look at my career over the past twenty years, my level is high. If you're at the top for twenty years, it's incredible. I do that and that I will continue to do so.” For me it's a big achievement.”
He scored 891 goals over the course of his 22-year career and has won some of the sport's top honors, including five UEFA Champions League trophies, three Premier League titles and two La Liga championships, as well as the European Championship with Portugal in 2016. .
Ronaldo is currently on the books of Al-Nassr, the Saudi Pro League club he joined in 2023 and has scored 42 goals in 41 appearances so far. Although the player did not go into details about his long-term career plans, it seems likely that he will see out his current contract with Al-Nassr, which runs until 2025.
While the discourse surrounding retirement is par for the course, the 39-year-old said the age difference between him and his colleagues is what pushes him to keep going.
“It's not easy to be at this level,” Ronaldo said. “To still push, still motivate, keep going, score goals, be in good shape, compete with the young lions coming up and that when they play against me they want to show me that they be stronger and faster than me. You have to prepare very well not only physically but also mentally. This is the challenge.”
Ronaldo is expected to be included in the Portugal squad for June's European Championship, which will be a chance for him to compete against some of the sport's top talents. It will serve as his first high-profile international competition in Europe since his second spell at Manchester United ended abruptly in 2022.
