Cristiano Ronaldo's former Manchester United teammate backs Portuguese legend to 'play for another 2-3 years'
Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov reckons his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo will play for a few more years.
Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the game's greatest goalscorers and is still going strong despite nearing 40. Ageing like fine wine, the 38-year-old is in sizzling form for his club side Al-Nassr and national team Portugal.
In the recent international break, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's brace powered Portugal to a 3-2 home win over Slovakia in a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier. That confirmed the Selecao's place in next year's Germany finals.
Three days later, Ronaldo bagged another brace as Roberto Maritnez's side won 5-0 at Bosnia and Herzegovina. Considering his former teammate's rousing form for club and country, Berbatov told Betfair (via GOAL) that Ronaldo should continue till he wants to stop:
"Ronaldo will stop when he wants to stop. When you look after yourself the way he has, have the team around you that he does, the chances of playing football for longer than expected gets bigger."
Reckoning that the Portugal captain could continue at his current level for two or three more years, Berbatov added:
"In Cristiano's case, I think he has the chance to play for another two or three years. People will say that he's playing in a slower league that's not as good as the Premier League but it doesn't matter.
"He's still proving that he's going strong, especially recently with his performances and goals for Portugal. He’s helped Portugal qualify for Euro 2024, and one day his last tournament will come, of course, but let's not think about that yet."
Urging everyone to enjoy Ronaldo while he's still going strong, the Bulgarian concluded:
"Let's just leave him be and I'm sure he'll surprise us with another decision soon enough. At the moment, Cristiano is going strong so we need to enjoy watching him play until he does decide that enough is enough."
How has former Manchester United attacker Cristiano Ronaldo fared for club and country this year?
Former Manchester United attacker Cristiano Ronaldo has had a splendid year for club and country. With his brace in Portugal's 5-0 win in Bosnia this week, the 38-year-old has 40 goals for club and country in 2023, the most by any player.
The tally includes nine goals in seven Euro 2024 qualifying games for Portugal. It comprises braces against Liechstenstein (home), Luxembourg (away), Slovakia (home) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (away).
The former Manchester United attacker also scored the lone goal in the 1-0 win at Iceland, where he became the first male player to make 200 international appearances.
For his club side, Al-Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 31 times in 36 games across competitions. The tally includes 17 goals in as many games this season, with 10 of them coming in eight Saudi Pro League games.