Cristiano Ronaldo Not Playing Club World Cup, Despite 'Plenty Of Contact..'
Cristiano Ronaldo dmissed speculation that he could play at the Club World Cup, saying on Saturday it was all but certain that he wouldn't feature.
Al-Nassr and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo announced on Saturday that he has no plans to play in the Club World Cup in the United States, despite interest from participating clubs in the expanded 32-team tournament.
Speculation surrounding the 40-year-old's future intensified last month when FIFA President Gianni Infantino mentioned ongoing discussions about Ronaldo's potential involvement in the Club World Cup, even though Al-Nassr hadn't qualified.
Last month, Al-Nassr's sporting director, Fernando Hierro, confirmed they were in negotiations with Ronaldo for a contract extension but acknowledged facing strong competition from several clubs keen to acquire the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Further fuelling the uncertainty, Ronaldo posted on social media after Al-Nassr's final match of the season against Al-Fateh: 'This chapter is over. The story? Still being written."
When questioned about the possibility of joining another club to participate in the Club World Cup later this month, Ronaldo told reporters: 'It's irrelevant; at the moment, it doesn't make sense to discuss anything other than the national team.
'There has been plenty of contact from clubs. I see some offers that make sense and others that don't. You can't go to all of them; you have to consider short, medium, and long-term plans.
'It's practically decided on my part not to participate in the Club World Cup, although I've had many invitations."
On Wednesday, Ronaldo scored the winning goal as Portugal defeated Germany 2-1 to secure a place in the Nations League final against Spain.
'It's always been like that. Whenever I've played football or a big game, it's always been Cristiano against this one or that one," he said.
'It's been over 20 years, and it's still the same. It doesn't bother me anymore; it's normal. They're completely different generations – one just starting out and the other finishing, like me.
'In reality, it's not like that. It's a team against a team. It will always be like that. What I want most is for Portugal to perform well, confident that we can play a great game and win against a very good team, possibly the best in the world."
(With inputs from Reuters)
First Published:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
10 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Oviedo earns 1st major-league win since 2023 as Pirates beat Blue Jays 2-1 to take the series
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Johan Oviedo earned his first major-league win since 2023 and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 on Wednesday to take the three-game series. HT Image In his second start since having Tommy John surgery in late 2023, Oviedo (1-0) struck out six, allowed two hits, one run and had a walk in five innings. His last win came with six scoreless innings in an 8-6 victory against the Cubs on Sept. 21, 2023. Dennis Santana struck out one in a perfect ninth for his ninth save. Toronto, first in the AL East, dropped two of three to Pittsburgh, last in the NL Central. George Springer quickly put the Blue Jays ahead, driving the 10th pitch of his leadoff at bat to the left-field bleachers for his 21st homer. Tommy Pham then plated a pair with a double in the bottom half. Bryan Reynolds hit a two-out double, Spencer Horwitz walked and Pham brought them in with a liner just inside the left-field line. Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt (11-7) was tagged for two runs and six hits, tying a season-high with 10 strikeouts and walking two in 5 2/3 innings. Bo Bichette led off the fourth with a double. Oviedo kept him at second by striking out Alejandro Kirk, getting Daulton Varsho to fly out and sending Nathan Lukes down swinging after hitting Ty France with a pitch. The Pirates are 23-27 in a major-league high 50 games decided by a single run. Blue Jays RHP Shane Bieber (0-0, 0.00 ERA) makes his season debut Friday, opening a three-game series at Miami. The 2020 AL Cy Young winner was traded by Cleveland to Toronto on July 31 and has not pitched in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2024. The Pirates open a three-game home set against the Colorado Rockies on Friday. ___ AP MLB:
New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- New Indian Express
This must be our starting point: Coach Filippelli after Anantjeet's golden hit
CHENNAI: Skeet shooter Anantjeet Singh Naruka was locked on to the task at hand, gunning down clay pigeons at will in the late afternoon at the Shooting Plaza in Shymkent on Wednesday. With the gold in sight, the 27-year-old was a picture of determination as he inched closer and closer to his goal at the ongoing Asian Championships in Kazakhstan. There were some blips for the Indian with veteran Mansour Al-rashidi of Kuwait, his closest challenger, testing his will. Anantjeet had faced a somewhat similar challenge in the last edition and had narrowly missed out on the yellow metal. Despite Al-rashidi's pressure, the Jaipur shooter remained ice cool and flipped the script this time around to earn himself a gold medal, India's first in the senior category in the ongoing continental meet. Anantjeet was spot on from the word go and had just three misses in the 60-shot marathon final, finishing with a tally of 56. Al-rashidi was just one behind. Qatar's Al-Ishaq Ali Ahmed AO was the third-best in the six-man final. Foreign coach Riccardo Filippelli, who has been the force behind some of the top skeet shooters from the country, was closely following the final unfold. The Italian, a former champion shooter himself, is naturally stoked with this outcome. "The competition was very complicated because of the strong wind and terrible organization. Anantjeet had been receptive from the very beginning and did a camp in Italy before this competition," he told the The New Indian Express from Shymkent. "I can only say that he (Anantjeet) was fantastic in everything... had great preparation and had a great attitude. His performance in the final was impeccable. I'm proud of him because in addition to being a champion, he is an extraordinary guy. This must be our starting point." Anantjeet had returned with a tally of 119 in the qualification in the morning to qualify for the finals. Even though the skeet shooters have been playing second-fiddle to the rifle and pistol colleagues, Anantjeet's gold-medal outcome is not a massive surprise. Despite not making the finals in the World Cups earlier this year, Anantjeet has been a one of the competitive shooters from the shotgun category in the last few years or so. During the said phase, he has a World Cup final medal to his name and is also a Asian Games silver medallist. Even though Filippelli officially took charge of the national skeet team this year, he was no stranger to the Indians. He had helped Anantjeet secure the Paris Olympics ticket last year in the last edition of the championships. His association with veteran Mairaj Ahmad Khan (not part of this event) also goes a long way back and Maheshwari Chauhan, who finished fourth in the women's category, has also taken lessons from him before he joined the team officially. Filippelli's working ethos is to inculcate strong team spirit. "In the last few years, we have grown a lot, the guys are always with me and believe in my 'team' project because not being a team, I think it is difficult for us to win. We have a lot of talent in India and I have identified a few who I think will bring us many medals in the future," he noted. Technique aside, the coach wants his wards to embrace a winning mentality. "I believe deeply in technique but above all, (taking) the right approach and a winning mentality and only by working closely with my players, can I convey these values. Everyone must believe in our project — our federation and our Olympic committee." Senior pro Mairaj is not part of this event but had words of encouragement for his younger counterpart. "Winning gold is not easy and the Asian Championships is important for us. This is a sure sign that things are improving. We have a new coach and a young team. Winning at this age bodes well for him." The gold medal is certainly a good sign for Anantjeet and the rest of the shotgun unit. Bronze for Saurabh, Suruchi Saurabh Chaudhary and Suruchi Singh captured a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team competition. They shot a combined tally of 578 in the qualification stage before going on to beat Chinese Taipei's Liu Heng-Yu and Hsieh Hsiang-Chen 17-9 in the bronze-medal match.
United News of India
2 hours ago
- United News of India
Arsenal sweats on Havertz knee injury that could see transfer market return
London, Aug 20 (UNI) Arsenal faces an anxious wait to see the extent of a knee injury striker Kai Havertz has suffered and the problem could lead the club to make a late move in the transfer window. Havertz missed Wednesday's training session at the Emirates Stadium due to the problem, but the club medical department reportedly needs to allow the injury to settle down before it is able to make a complete diagnosis and estimate how long he will be sidelined. The German was unavailable for 20 games last season, suffering a minor knee issue in December followed by a hamstring tear in February that kept him out of action until early May. Arsenal signed Viktor Gyokeres over the summer to give more firepower in attack, but he has still to adapt to the club. Meanwhile, Gabriel Jesus hasn't played since suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in January and is still several months away from returning. Leandro Trossard can play in a central striking role, but missed much of pre-season with a groin problem, but although midfielder Mikel Merino showed he can play in a striking role last season, if Havertz's knee issue proves to be serious Arsenal will probably move to bring in a new player. Real Madrid's Rodrygo has been named as a possible target, with the Brazilian playing only a bit-part role in the Club World Cup and the 24-year-old was an unused substitute as his side debuted in La Liga with a 1-0 win at home to Osasuna on Tuesday night. UNI/XINHUA BM
