Cristiano Ronaldo Announces Manchester United Retirement At What Point He 'Wanted To Give Up'

Cristiano Ronaldo had originally planned to retire at the age of 30, according to his former Portugal team-mate Costinha. Now 39, football great Ronaldo continues to impress on the pitch, scoring goals for his club Al-Nassr and his national team, Portugal.

This week he broke Scottish hearts by scoring the winning goal in the UEFA Nations League match against Scotland. Yet, according to Costinha, Ronaldo's career could have taken a different turn if he had stuck to his original plan.

Costinha, who won the Champions League with Jose Mourinho's Porto in 2004, recalls a conversation with Ronaldo in which he suggested he would have retired earlier than expected. “I remember him from when he was very young, he made his debut against Kazakhstan in 2003. The only thing I found strange at the time was that he said that at 30 he wanted to stop playing football,” Costinha told ESPN Brazil.

The forward began the 2014/15 season with Real Madrid, a campaign in which he celebrated his 30th birthday, scoring in remarkable fashion in 11 consecutive La Liga games. He went on to win his fourth European Golden Shoe with an impressive 61 goals during the season.

His exploits did not stop there as he won three consecutive Champions League titles with Los Blancos in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The same year he won Euro 2016, he also broke Eusebio's international goalscoring record in a calendar year.

Costinha added: “But we soon realised that it was impossible for that to happen, such was the level of perfection he sought in any situation that presented itself to him.

“He said to me: 'Costa, I'm going to play until I'm 30 and then I'm going to do something different'. I thought it was difficult. 'It's very unlikely because of the way you are'. And ten years have passed (since he turned 30) and he's still playing very well.”

Ronaldo, who turns 40 next February, continues to be a key player for Al-Nassr, having broken the single-season goalscoring record in the Saudi Pro League last season. He also reached the 900-goal mark with his strike for Portugal against Croatia in the UEFA Nations League.

Asked if he thinks the legend could reach 100 goals, Costinha replied: “I think it depends on many things. It depends on what happens in the future if he wants to continue playing… It depends on many factors. But if he has the opportunity, he will try and achieve it. I have no doubt about that.”

As for Ronaldo, he has no plans to retire just yet. In a conversation with Rio Ferdinand earlier this week, he revealed: “I give everything, I gave my body for 25 years to football… I know that for two or three more years I can produce something good, but after that I don't even want to think about it. You think I'm going to cry.” [when I retire] with everything I have in my life? Well, maybe a little!