Heartfelt Cristiano Ronaldo retirement announcement comes in 5-minute speech

For a legendary player like Cristiano Ronaldo, there’s so much to say about his time with the Portugal national team. And that’s why the all-time great took five minutes to read out a speech — accompanied by a video of highlights — released on Thursday morning to announce his time in international soccer was coming to a close.

“To the Portuguese people. The day has come for me to hand back to No. 7 shirt of our national team,” he said in the letter. “I never felt it belonged to me alone. But for 23 years, I had the privilege and the responsibility of wearing it, of defending it and carrying it with me into stadiums all around the world. Today, the time has come to pass it on to the future.”

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He went on to say that it wasn’t an easy decision — although his last run in the World Cup wasn’t the smoothest — but it was one made with his “heart.”

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

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See Cristiano Ronaldo from the past 6 World Cups in 13 photos

Will Cristiano Ronaldo get one more game with Portugal like Lionel Messi did with Argentina?

In a statement after Portugal’s announcement, the country’s Football Federation said this, via The Athletic:

It is our firm and immense desire to organize, plan, participate, and actively collaborate in what will always be a fitting tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo’s immense career, in which fans and the country can applaud and celebrate, once again, the player who has given us so much.

Nothing official there, but we’ll see.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Heartfelt Cristiano Ronaldo retirement announcement comes in 5-minute speech

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