New Portuguese coach calls Ronaldo back to the team
According to British newspaper The Athletic, coach Roberto Martinez met Ronaldo before calling the striker to the national team. "Ronaldo's decision to continue playing for the national team will benefit the Portuguese Football Federation financially," the newspaper wrote.
When he took over as coach of the Portuguese team on January 9, Martinez also said that he expected Ronaldo to continue wearing the national team shirt. "We will start the new strategy by looking at every player who is qualified to play for Portugal," he said. "Every player has a chance, but we also respect the old players and Ronaldo is one of them."
At the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo started the first three matches, but was a substitute in the two knock-out rounds. Portugal were eliminated by Morocco in the quarter-finals, when the 38-year-old striker was still unable to score in World Cup knockout history. The captain of the national team has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with coach Fernando Santos. But Santos has resigned after this tournament, and Martinez is expected to still summon Ronaldo.
Ronaldo holds the scoring record at the national team level, with 118 goals. He also holds the record for most appearances for a national team, with 196 as Bader Al-Mutawa for Kuwait. Mutawa is the same age as Ronaldo and can also continue to play for Kuwait against the Philippines and Tajikistan in the upcoming international friendly series. At the same time, Portugal respectively met Liechtenstein on March 23 and Luxembourg on March 26 in the Euro 2024 qualifying round.
Over the past two months, Martinez has tracked 200 players capable of playing for Portugal, according to O Jogo, including 82 players playing in Europe's top five leagues. He also does not ignore players who play in Portugal, other leagues or hybrid players.
Martinez could be Ronaldo's fifth coach in Portugal, after Luiz Felipe Scolari, Carlos Queiroz, Paulo Bento and Fernando Santos. In particular, he won two titles with Santos, Euro 2016 and UEFA Nations League 2019.
Since the beginning of 2023, Ronaldo has played nine official matches for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, scoring eight and assisting two goals. The current Portuguese coaching staff has former midfielder Ricardo Carvalho - Ronaldo's longtime teammate on the national team.
