It’s their drug, their spark, their purpose of life. He, like all champions, would be as seduced as inspired by the quest to fulfill the unfulfilled dream. The path to sunset seemed to begin, as he soon left Manchester United, the ego that fuels his footballing feats battered, and retreated into the slow buzz of a football wasteland, far from the gruel of heart-stopping football chores of Europe, far from the stifling clutches of systems and styles, to a place where he could finally be his own, the free spirit.īut Ronaldo is made of such fiery stuff that he would not fade away quietly, he would not easily quit his dreams. “If we take two people that were the most upset about the game, perhaps it was Cristiano Ronaldo and myself.” A teary-eyed Ronaldo was supposed to be the cruel farewell image of a footballer who loathed to be pictured weeping in public. Then coach Fernando Santos would later say: When he reached the belly of the dark tunnel, he broke down, wiping bursts of tears exploding from his eyes. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal during the Euro 2024 group J qualifying soccer match between Iceland and Portugal in Reykjavík, Iceland.

At 37 then, perhaps, there is no time for another tilt at the trophy he has coveted the most in his life, the only piece of silverware missing in his gallery stacked with trophies. He passed through hysterical Moroccan players, each paused their celebration to commiserate the legend and applauded him, as though it were his international farewell. When the final whistle blew, with Morocco upending Portugal to reach the semifinals of the Qatar World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo trudged to the tunnel, his head bowed down and face hidden in the jersey.

Spark city world game