{"id":526889,"date":"2026-07-05T21:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T21:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/526889\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T21:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T21:25:10","slug":"theyve-tried-to-kill-me-for-23-years-cristiano-ronaldo-says-this-world-cup-will-be-his-last-cristiano-ronaldo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/526889\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They\u2019ve tried to kill me for 23 years\u2019: Cristiano Ronaldo says this World Cup will be his last | Cristiano Ronaldo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-three years, 232 games, 146 goals and six World Cups later, at 41, this really could be the end, and Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> will depart at peace. The day before potentially the final match of his extraordinary international career, the truth that everyone knew but Portugal\u2019s captain had tried not to actually express, eventually came out. \u201cThis will be my last World Cup; God willing tomorrow is not my last game,\u201d he said. And if it is, well, it is. If he has to go without lifting the only trophy to resist him, so be it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not missing anything; God has been generous to me,\u201d Ronaldo said. \u201cI won\u2019t be more Cristiano or less Cristiano if I win the World Cup<\/a> or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first time Ronaldo played for Portugal<\/a> was against Kazakhstan at the Est\u00e1dio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira in Chaves before of 8,000 people, when he came on as a half-time substitute for Lu\u00eds Figo; the last time could be against Spain at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas, before 80,000. Defeat in the World Cup last 16 would eliminate Portugal and bring his time at this stage to an end.<\/p>\n

So the final press conference before what may be the final game was Ronaldo\u2019s moment, like he was taking it all in, maybe even enjoying it. In three languages and in front of a packed room, there were some jokes and a few little digs, mostly delivered with a smile. He noted how for two decades they have tried to \u201ckill\u201d him and pointed out that three goals at this tournament is not too bad. When it was suggested that he might not be back, he replied: \u201cYou don\u2019t want me back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cristiano<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYou always ask the same question, whether this is the last one. We\u2019ll see. I don\u2019t want to draw attention to that, it isn\u2019t important, what\u2019s important is whether we go through,\u201d Ronaldo had insisted at the beginning, but he talked like a man who knows the time has come. Then he said it had, and what is said can\u2019t be unsaid. The end can only be put off: another day, another round. Four more, at most.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day will come,\u201d he said, \u201cbut, honestly, whatever happens tomorrow, I will leave with a clear conscious, not 100% but 1,000% because I have given everything to football. I don\u2019t need it; I live well, but it\u2019s about passion. I play football because I love it. Whatever happens tomorrow I can\u2019t put pressure on myself, saying we have the obligation to win. No, what will be will be. You have to enjoy it day to day. And I have scored three goals. I\u2019m not doing too badly, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve tried to kill me for 23 years. There\u2019s no point paying too much attention to it. It\u2019s part of it \u2026 People in Portugal have faith, they never fail us, they\u2019re always on our side, my side. All the rest is rubbish. It doesn\u2019t matter at all. I\u2019m not lacking anything in life. God has given me everything, more than I ever expected. Age gives you maturity and experience. I\u2019m thankful even for the attacks I receive. That\u2019s how you grow as a person, it has made me stronger, and I thank you journalists for that, because of that I\u2019ve grown even more.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou have to enjoy every day, like the last World Cup, which it will be, but hopefully, hopefully, tomorrow is not the last day. Hopefully. And then you can kill me a bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twenty-three years, 232 games, 146 goals and six World Cups later, at 41, this really could be the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-526889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}