Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer in Serie A this season with 12 goals in 10 appearances; 35-year-old believes he can play for "many, many more years"; Ronaldo says winning 2022 World Cup with Portugal would be a "dream"
Wednesday 30 December 2020 18:22, UK
Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed his desire to continue playing for "many, many years" and says he is feeling "sharp and in a good moment", even at the age of 35.
The Juventus forward has continued to defy his years since arriving from Real Madrid for around £100m in 2018, and has scored 16 goals in just 14 games for the Italian champions this season.
Ronaldo's contract in Turin still has 18 months left to run and he does not believe retirement is imminent, saying: "If you feel motivated, it doesn't matter.
"Cristiano now is good. I feel in a great moment, but I don't know tomorrow what's going to happen. I live the present, the moment. Moment is good, I feel happy.
"I feel still good, sharp and in a good moment in my life. I hope to play many, many years more, but you never know. This is football, we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.
"When I speak with the young boys, I'm always giving advice to them. I say: "Enjoy the moment, because you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. Something can happen in your life with your family. Enjoy the moment."
"My eyes see the future very, very bright, so I'm happy with that."
One of the reasons Ronaldo believes his future is set to be "very bright" is that he and his Portugal team-mates are "very positive" of retaining their title at this season's European Championships.
Ronaldo was a key part of the side that won Euro 2016 - Portugal's first major trophy - and scored a hat-trick in the semi-final as they won the inaugural Nations League in 2019.
And the former Manchester United forward is confident Euro 2020 - rearranged for the summer of 2021 due to coronavirus - can see Portugal win their third major trophy in five years.
He said: "It will be tough, but we are a good team, a young team. We have a fantastic coach [Fernando Santos], so we're very, very, very positive on that.
"We don't know what's going to happen - we have to think about our group - but I think we'll be good. Our team is better, we improved a lot, the young kids is becoming even better, so I'm very confident."
But Ronaldo insists he is not satisfied with what he has already won with Portugal and has turned his attention to the only major international trophy he is yet to win - the World Cup.
The next iteration of the tournament will take place in Qatar in the winter of 2022 - by which point Ronaldo will be nearly 38 - and he is dreaming of leading his country to yet more glory.
"We won 2016 and now we want to win the World Cup," said Ronaldo. "It's possible, yes, it's possible. Everything is possible.
"But you have to be realistic as well. As I told you many, many times, my dream is to win something for Portugal national team and I won two titles, which is making me feel happy.
"I win [with] every club that I played with, but World Cup… it's a dream. It's a dream."
