Undeterred by the flak received from critics and fans for joining the Saudi Pro League along with criticism targeting his performance on the football pitch, Cristiano Ronaldo aims to continue playing the game at the international level longer than what most expect of him.
At the age of 38, Ronaldo is often subjected to "retirement rumours", however, the Portuguese star is "interested" in completing 250 international matches.
The revelation was made by the Portugal national side's coach Roberto Martinez in an interview with former Arsenal winger Freddie Ljungberg, Sportskeeda reported.
"I said [to Ronaldo] is 200 caps something that interests you or not? He said, '250 interests me'," Martinez said citing his conversation with the star footballer.
Ronaldo completed 200 matches for the national side in a Euro 2024 qualifier match against Liechtenstein — the highest by any player at the international level.
The previous record for the most international appearances was held by Kuwait's Bader Al-Mutawa who featured in 196 games.
However, in order to achieve his goal of 250 matches, Ronaldo will have to play the 2026 World Cup.
It is to be noted that Portugal won all 10 of their games in their Euro qualification with the star footballer netting 10 goals — second highest in the tournament.
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