Manchester United forward, Cristiano Ronaldo has stressed that he “wants to put the level higher” even though he has achieved almost everything in football.
The 36-year-old Portuguese football icon stated this when he was asked whether he would retire from international football to focus on club football.
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the highest goalscorer of all-time in international football. The record was initially held by Ali Daei of Iran who scored 109 goals before he retired.
Ronaldo broke Daei’s record in September 2021 and has taken his goals tally to 115 goals so far. He also has the highest number of hat-tricks (10) in international football.
The Portuguese football star believes that he could still extend these numbers further even though age is no longer on his side.
Ronaldo’s goalscoring prowess does not only end in international football. The former Real Madrid and Juventus forward is still waxing stronger in club football.
So far in his club career, he has scored 479 league goals in 591 appearances which makes him the all-time highest goalscorer in Europe’s top five leagues.
More so, Ronaldo is regarded as the king of the UEFA Champions League not just because he has won the tournament five times but because of his goalscoring prowess in the tournament. So far, the 36-year-old forward has scored a record 137 goals in the tournament. He is also the player with the most appearances (179) in the history of the tournament.
In the past 17 years, Cristiano Ronaldo has been able to combine his international duties perfectly well with club duties, a confirmation that he does not have to drop one for one to continue to be effective.
“I think it’s not my time yet [to retire from international football], Cristiano Ronaldo insisted.
“It’s not what people want, it’s what I want. It’s when I feel that I’m not capable to run, dribbling, to shoot if the power is gone… but I still have that stuff so I want to continue because I’m still motivated.
“It’s the main word – [motivated] to do my stuff, to make people happy and my family happy and the fans and myself. I want to put the level even higher.
“You speak about Portugal but in the Champions League, I have the most goals, the most wins, assists… everything. But I want to carry on. I like to play football. I feel good to make people happy.”
🗣"I'm still motivated, it's the main word. To make people happy, to make my family, my fans and myself happy. I want to make the level I'm in even higher."
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 22, 2021
Cristiano Ronaldo has no plans to stop playing football anytime soon pic.twitter.com/aCJqYL5p2B
The role of Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United is to score goals
Cristiano Ronaldo’s career gained the attention of the world when he left Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon for Manchester United on August 12, 2003.
Since then, he is known for his abilities to run, dribble, shoot, and score goals. The more he advances in age, the more he develops from being a winger to a full-blown striker.
When he decided to leave Juventus to return to Manchester United last summer, the British media kept asking Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer why the club decided to bring back a 36-year-old Ronaldo, and the answer has always been to score goals for the team.
Even though he has scored 6 goals in 9 appearances in all competitions this season, some of his critics believe that he has not been doing enough in terms of marking and defending for the team.
But in an interview with Sky Sports ahead of Manchester United vs Liverpool Premier League game scheduled to kick off at 16:30 on Sunday, Ronaldo stressed that his role at United is to score goals.
The 5-time Ballon d’Or winner also stressed that Manchester United need more time to play as a team due to the new inclusions in the team.
While nothing that the club is in its adaptation stage, he urged his teammates to know their roles and sacrifice for the team.
Ronaldo said: “We are in a moment in my opinion that Manchester (United) do a few changes; they buy me, they buy (Raphael) Varane and (Jadon) Sancho.
“The adaptation will take time, even the system of the game that we play, but I think step by step we have to put it in our mind that everything is possible.
“I don’t speak only about my individual stuff, I put the collective in the first place. To win things as a collective, it’s easier to win individual stuff, I still think it’s possible.
“Everyone should know their role. I know my role in the team, in the club… my role is to score goals, to help the team with my experience and know-how to understand the game.
“If everyone is thinking like that, sacrifice for the team, I think we will be a better team. We have fantastic supporters behind us, the fantastic stadium, fantastic team, so we have to carry on like that.”
🗣 "I know my role in the team."
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 22, 2021
Cristiano Ronaldo says he has been brought back to #MUFC to score goals and use his experience to help develop the club’s younger players 🔴 pic.twitter.com/dHfJIwpstJ
Ronaldo is condemned to help Manchester United beat Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday. A defeat to his team could take the club as low as the 10th spot on the league table pending the outcome of other games this weekend.
The team is currently sitting on the 6th spot with 14 points in 8 games, 5 points away from first-placed Chelsea. While United’s Sunday opponents are sitting on the second spot with 18 points in 8 games, a point away from Chelsea.
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