C羅：葡萄牙是偉大的國家 我對不願為國出戰的球員感到失望

Quinas de Ouro, organized by the Portuguese Football Association, held its awards ceremony on Monday to honor outstanding Portuguese male and female players in the fields of football, futsal, and beach soccer in 2023.

Cristiano Ronaldo attended the ceremony and received the Quinas de Platina (Platinum Shield) award. Ronaldo expressed his gratitude in his acceptance speech: "Thank you to the football association, thank you for this award, thank you for the long journey in the national team. I feel very proud, very satisfied, and it's all thanks to hard work."

"It's quite interesting because when I first entered the national team at 18 years old, I had a dream: to complete my first national team match. Then I thought about 25, 50 matches, which are milestones that all players consider important. Then I told myself, 'Why not 100 matches?' A round number, three digits. And then I started thinking, why not 150 matches, 200 matches. It's a great feeling for me."

Ronaldo continued, "I want to take this opportunity to say to my national team teammates: after playing for so many clubs, winning so many trophies, Champions Leagues, Ballon d'Ors, FIFA awards, and so on, I still believe that there is nothing better than representing the national team. Coming into the national team, I say it again: playing represents the whole country, the entire culture, your children, your mother, your father, your best friend. So, I often feel disappointed by some players who are unwilling to represent the national team."

"Everything goes by so fast, there is nothing better than playing. I hear a lot of people say that Portugal is a small country. But Portugal is a great country, we must think this way. We must believe that no matter the size of a country, we have everything, an extraordinary country. We have infrastructure, stadiums, excellent coaches. We have the potential of our players, the stars we have. We just need to make a few adjustments, think that one day we will become great. I believe Portugal will become great not only in football but also in other sports."