Cristiano Ronaldo has announced his retirement from international football after a record-breaking career with Portugal.
The 41-year-old shared the news in an Instagram video on Thursday, which showed him reading a letter to fans.
In his letter, Ronaldo began by handing back the number 7 shirt.
“I never felt it as exclusively mine,” he said. “But for 23 years, I had the privilege and the responsibility to wear it, to defend it, and to carry it with me to stadiums all over the world.”
He said the decision was hard to make. “It was not an easy decision, because there are decisions that are not made only with the head… they are also made with the heart.”
Ronaldo said that when he looks back, he sees more than matches, goals, records and trophies. He sees emigrants who felt closer to Portugal for 90 minutes and millions of Portuguese people he never met.
“Football is people,” he said, adding that all his records and goals would be replaced but what mattered more than any of it was the place he got in people’s hearts.
Ronaldo thanked his teammates, and said, “I had the privilege of being your captain. But no captain walks alone, and you are part of my history.”
He also thanked coaches, directors, doctors, physiotherapists, kit managers and staff, and his family for sharing the dream with him.
“I leave with my head held high, proud of the path I walked, and with the awareness that I gave everything I had for Portugal. But I will never stop being one of you.”
He ended the letter with a message about the shirt. “The number 7 shirt stays, but the pride of having worn it will be mine forever. Portugal will always be within me. Until always.”
