Untouchable or a support act? Ronaldo's 1,000-goal quest continues

Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 905 career goals

Cristiano Ronaldo was climbing the stairs to his room at the Portugal camp when he spotted Geovany Quenda at the end of the hallway and came to say hello to the new boy making his senior international debut.

"So my man, are you recovered from the game?" Ronaldo asked in early September.

Sporting had beaten Porto 2-0 the weekend before.

Quenda was just too shy to reply. Sporting's 17-year-old winger was not even born when the 39-year-old legend first wore the Portuguese jersey back in 2003.

Ronaldo has been around in the national team for over two decades now but, despite the harsh criticism that followed Portugal's quarter-finals exit in Euro 2024, he has made it crystal clear that he isn't going anywhere.

After a tournament where he didn't hold a single press conference, the captain has been, in fact, very vocal about that.

In his first post-Euros interview, he told Now, a new local broadcast channel where he's the second largest shareholder, that when he retires from international football, he "won't tell anyone - it will be a very spontaneous decision."

And, in his mind, the time for that has not arrived yet - as he continues his quest for 1,000 career goals.

Having been Portugal's most used player this summer in Germany – featuring for 485 minutes, 94% of possible time – Ronaldo remains a big part of coach Roberto Martinez's plans.

So far, the Al-Nassr striker has repaid his faith by scoring twice in two games as the Selecao got their Nations League campaign under way last month.

With Portugal travelling to face Poland this Saturday, he will be hoping to build on that and keep defying the doubters by adding to his 905 career goals. Martinez is certainly not one of them.

"It’s very difficult to be Ronaldo," the Spanish manager told website Zerozero.

"It makes sense to ask about his age, but we monitored his performance [during the Euros] through statistics, which show he was well used. I have confidential information to back it up.”

Expresso, a leading weekly Portuguese newspaper, has ironically referred to them as 'top secret' numbers. Whatever they are, they have been enough to justify Ronaldo's place in the team for the 2026 World Cup cycle.

"The whole debate is not about his age, but much more than that," Tomas da Cunha, a football pundit for Dazn and TSF radio, told BBC Sport.

"Pepe was 41 and yet his performances were largely praised in the summer. Ronaldo's, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired in the last World Cup and Euros. Fernando Santos [former Portugal coach] tried to end his untouchable status, but with Martinez that hasn't happened."

Supporting role? Not likely

Although a recent poll from CNN Portugal/Mais Futebol found that 74% of the fans want Ronaldo out of the national team, those voices don't seem to resonate within the national team headquarters, Cidade do Futebol.

The Madeira-born forward himself has ruled out the idea of a supporting role.

He rushed to correct a reporter last month when it was mentioned during a press conference that "what he did over the last 20 years cannot be forgotten."

"And I continue to do so," he said.

The reporter then went on and asked whether he would still be available to play for Portugal even feeling that one day he will lose his starting spot.

"That's what you think. Until the end of my career, I will always have the mindset that I will be a starter."

Much of the criticism around Ronaldo comes from the fact that it's been nine games - or 720 minutes - since he last scored in a tournament finals. It was a penalty kick against Ghana in the 2022 World Cup.

Besides that, seven of his last 10 international goals have been against teams ranked below the 50th position - the exceptions being Croatia [12th] and Slovakia [42th].

As he pursues his 1,000th career goal, there's the concern of how much that will impact the team dynamic.

"It's something that has already had influence over the past few years - the team always looking for him and also the individualistic way that he approaches this situation," Cunha said.

'Ronaldo has an impact on our finances'

Handling Ronaldo's future was never supposed to be easy. Not only because he's arguably the country's greatest-ever player but also because his importance goes way beyond the pitch.

For the 12th consecutive financial year, the Portuguese federation finished it with a profit, announcing a record revenue of 121.6m euro (£101.8m), the first time ever they have broken the 120m euro barrier.

It obviously helps having a superstar with one billion social media followers like the number seven around.

"Ronaldo has an impact on our finances," the FPF president Fernando Gomes said in an interview with RTP in 2021. "That's undeniable when you consider our broadcast rights and kit deals."

If he can deliver the goals that cemented his place in history as one of the most prolific strikers of all-time, then even better, of course.

"The FPF refused to end his story with the team after Qatar and that helps understanding the decision to appoint Martinez," Cunha argued.

"You cannot diminish the weight of Ronaldo and his brand, of course, but the best years of a highly talented generation are passing by and you still don't see them being able to express themselves with full freedom with the ball.

"A different kind of approach with Ronaldo, focusing on scenarios where he can contribute, would be way more productive at this point of his career."