ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo’s sometimes playful banter in a rare World Cup news conference ended in an exchange between Portugal’s superstar and a reporter from Argentina.
Ronaldo took the moment on the eve of a round of 16 clash with border rival Spain to repeat something he has said at least once before.
This sixth World Cup for the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star will be his last.
“What remains with me is the people — the people who love you. I share hotels with the staff, Latino people, and those are spectacular memories. Yesterday on the flight, there was an Argentine flight attendant. And knew she was Argentine by the way she looked at me: ‘I knew you were Argentine by the way you looked at me. If you look away quickly, it means you don’t like Cristiano,’” Ronaldo said through an interpreter Sunday, breaking into a smile.
“I want to enjoy what will be my last World Cup to the fullest,” Ronaldo continued. “Hopefully, tomorrow won’t be my last match. That way, you can keep bashing me some more.”
Ronaldo made similar comments in a television interview late last year, a few months after Portugal won the UEFA Nations League title with a riveting victory over Spain in a penalty shootout.
Many of the questions for the 41-year-old during a 25-minute session at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys referred to what everybody in the packed room was assuming: This was it for Ronaldo.
Before the end, he joked with reporters that they were pushing him out the door. Just about every time he did, though, he would turn philosophical.
“There’s nothing missing,” Ronaldo said. “God was so generous toward me. He gave me everything I never expected to win, especially at the national team. And personally, the same thing. So it’s enjoying every moment. I’m not going to be more Cristiano or less Cristiano because I win the World Cup. Of course, we all have hopes, myself especially, and we all want all the conditions to win. But we know that only one is going to win.”
Ronaldo’s World Cup finale — whenever it ends — will come eight years after he was the oldest to record a World Cup hat trick at 33. That was in a 3-3 draw with Spain in the group stage opener, when both of the soccer powers didn’t advance to the knockout stage.
Portugal is trying for a second consecutive trip to the quarterfinals. The only other time Portugal went deeper was a semifinal run in Ronaldo’s World Cup debut in 2006.
Ronaldo had the tying goal in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Croatia in the round of 32. Three of his 11 World Cup goals have come in this tournament. It was a matchup of 40-somethings against Croatia’s Luka Modric, who was in his fifth World Cup at 40.
“What I have done throughout my career is to adjust to the nuances of age, knowing that I’m not the player I used to be,” Ronaldo said. “But one thing I can understand very clearly is nothing has changed because I can still score a goal. I hope I do that tomorrow, and if I don’t, I hope others on the team do.”
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