5 ways Cristiano Ronaldo can prolong his career at the top

#3 Retirement from international football

Retiring from his duties with Portugal could also help Ronaldo prolong his career

Normally, I’d frown upon this suggestion because I still believe that international football is the pinnacle of the game, but realistically for Ronaldo, now is probably the time for him to move on from playing for Portugal and let his country move on from him, too. After all, he’s now played 147 times for them and scored 79 goals. Could anyone really ask for more?

If we’re being blunt, do Portugal have a real chance of winning the World Cup in 2018 – probably Ronaldo’s last hurrah anyway? The answer is no; there are far stronger teams out there than Portugal, and even with a fully-firing, peak Ronaldo, they crashed out in the group stage of the last World Cup, with more of a whimper, rather than a bang.

If he does choose to retire from the international game, nobody can claim he didn’t succeed with Portugal anyway. Remember he was their star man – even not at peak form – in their Euro 2016 victory, the one tournament win for the country, and even when he left the final with an injury, he largely coached the side to their win.

Other players such as Paul Scholes and Alan Shearer retired from international football and it helped them to prolong their club career, largely because it gave them a rest during the international breaks and saved them from an abundance of travel – and Ronaldo could follow in their footsteps.