According to an editorial published in the Portuguese sports newspaper A Bola, recent controversy surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal national team coach Fernando Santos has sparked widespread debate in local public opinion. The article suggests that while Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in Portuguese football history, as he ages the national team must gradually consider how to manage his playing time and the team's future.

First, let me say this: Thank you, Cristiano Ronaldo. Thank you for everything.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player in Portuguese football history, one of the greatest players in world football history, and one of the greatest athletes in sports history. He possessed an intense competitive drive and embodied one of sport's greatest individual comebacks.

And we were fortunate to witness it all.

We watched the skinny, stubborn boy from Madeira grow up. We watched the Sporting CP youth player develop into a star. We saw Manchester, Madrid, and Turin. We saw Ballon d'Or awards, goals, titles, tears, defeats, comebacks, records, and his almost unconscious ability to turn the impossible into reality again and again.

We watched Cristiano Ronaldo become Cristiano Ronaldo. And in a country where mediocrity is often declared destiny, we watched a Portuguese man reach the pinnacle of the world.

Nothing that happens now can erase any of that.

But in recent days, the word "once" has taken on particular significance. Cristiano Ronaldo was once the best. He is no longer. Not because of any fault of his own, but because of time's iron law. This is not criticism. This is life. This is football.

The problem arises when there are those who wish the past to continue dominating the present. The past matters because it is memory, identity, and history. But it is not what plays on the pitch.

If Cristiano Ronaldo were Norwegian, would anyone want to bench Haaland simply because Cristiano Ronaldo was once the world's best? If French, would Mbappé be dropped from the starting lineup simply because Cristiano Ronaldo once reached the top? If English, would Kane lose his starting place for the same reason? Of course not.

So why should it be any different simply because he is Portuguese?

The Portuguese national team is not a museum, nor is it a monument to Cristiano Ronaldo. It is a football team. And in a football team, who plays is decided by the coach. Santos reminded everyone of this, including Cristiano Ronaldo.

And for precisely this reason, we must acknowledge the coach's courage now.

Not all of Santos's decisions are inherently correct. Only the pitch can prove that. But there is an important point to his approach: he consistently prioritizes team interests over individual status.

Santos himself explained that he kept Cristiano Ronaldo warming up "longer than necessary," which caused the player's displeasure. For those who know this coach, this is an unusual act of restraint, an attempt to respectfully address the issue with the player.

Then came the words in Copenhagen that ignited the "Cristiano Ronaldo-ism" debate: "In this team, I am in charge." And another equally direct statement: "The rules are the same for everyone."

That's right. Finally. A team where the coach is in charge. What a revolutionary concept.

Santos did not end Cristiano Ronaldo; he ended the idea that "one player is above the team." He ended the notion that "the past automatically guarantees the future." He ended the idea that "a legend's greatness determines the size of the starting lineup."

That is not how it is, and that is not how it should be.

Cristiano Ronaldo is too great to need any of this. And that is precisely what concerns me most in this situation. Everything we have seen in recent days is unworthy of a legend like Cristiano Ronaldo, unworthy of his career, and certainly unworthy of the captain of the national team. More importantly, it is unfair to him. Cristiano Ronaldo's career was built precisely by rejecting privilege. His greatness came from hard work, discipline, an obsession with surpassing himself, a desire to improve, and a refusal to accept limits. As a child, he did not wait to be given a place; he earned it.

Perhaps this is the cruelest irony. The man who transformed childhood humility into work ethic, resilience, and character seems to have lost these along the way, crushed by the sheer size of the CR7 machine—the brand, the empire, the contracts, the millions, the endless exposure, and the role it demands.

All of this may make it difficult for him to accept the truth that every great athlete eventually faces: you cannot always beat time. You cannot buy it, stop it with status, or delay it with Ballon d'Or awards.

Cristiano Ronaldo cannot purchase the elixir of youth. And that is a good thing. Sport is human precisely for this reason, and he has been exemplary precisely because of it.

Cristiano Ronaldo was once the greatest of all time. He is no longer. Saying this does not diminish his value. What truly diminishes him is denying this obvious truth.

So what troubles me most in this situation is not the bench, not the substitutions, not the debate over who should play. It is watching a legend transform what should be the final chapter of an extraordinary career into a struggle over authority, status, and power.

Cristiano Ronaldo deserves a dignified exit. I still believe that. But a dignified exit does not necessarily mean leaving on our terms.

Sometimes, dignity means knowing when to stop. That too is greatness.

Pelé remained Pelé after retirement. Maradona remained Maradona after retirement. Eusébio remained Eusébio after retirement. Federer remained Federer after retirement. Carlos Lopes and Rosa Mota did not lose themselves in retirement.

Time did not steal their greatness; it only took their present. Cristiano Ronaldo deserves this distinction as well.

So now is the time to express our gratitude to him. Immense gratitude that cannot be contained in uniforms, statues, or ceremonies. Gratitude for his goals. Gratitude for his titles. Gratitude for his tears. Gratitude for those incredible nights. Gratitude for leading Portugal to the pinnacle of the world. Gratitude for showing countless children that talent alone is not enough without hard work. Gratitude for proving that a boy from Madeira can reach places he could hardly imagine. Thank you for everything.

Now is the time to support Santos, the team, and the coaching staff. Now is the time to stand with the national team, not against Cristiano Ronaldo. Because the national team should be able to exist beyond any one player, and Santos should be allowed to coach.

Those who speak of "betrayal" seem to have forgotten who Santos is. In Oslo, the coach attempted to explain what had happened and acknowledged keeping Cristiano Ronaldo warming up longer than necessary. This was not a declaration of war but an attempt to resolve the issue. Later in Copenhagen, he made it clear: the coach is in charge of the team, and the rules are the same for everyone. This is how a team should be.

Whoever cannot accept this, no matter how high their status, does not understand hierarchy, and certainly does not understand what it means to be the captain of the national team.

From a sporting perspective, Portugal has already proven in the match against Norway that it can win without Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting lineup.

But make no mistake: going forward, results will matter more than ever.

Every victory will be used to prove Santos was right. Every defeat will pull Cristiano Ronaldo back into the debate. Every forward's goal will be compared to CR7's goals. Every poor performance will raise the inevitable question: "What if Cristiano Ronaldo had been on the pitch?"

This is a trap. Just as it would be unfair to blame Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal not winning the World Cup under his leadership, the team must play good football, and Cristiano Ronaldo must calmly decide how to write the final chapter of his story.

Because he still has a choice. He can leave as a legend. Or his final important legacy can be one more lesson: that even the greatest player must accept the passage of time.

Cristiano Ronaldo was once the greatest of all time, and no one can take that from him.

It was a privilege to watch him rise, grow, and conquer the world. It was an even greater privilege as a Portuguese person to watch him wear the national team jersey. To witness such a career, one we will never see again, is also a privilege.

Thank you, Cristiano Ronaldo. But now let the national team play. Let Santos coach. Let the other players grow. And let your life return to what it should be: an extraordinary story, not a fight to keep doing everything you once did.

Because football is not a memorial service; it is a game. And the next match will never be played yesterday.

Perhaps the day Santos realized this was the day "Cristiano Ronaldo-ism" came to an end.

AI翻訳。

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