Cristiano Ronaldo: The Portuguese striker's quest for 1,000 goals continues

Ronaldo was Portugal's most used player in Germany this summer – playing 485 minutes, or 94% of the possible playing time – and remains an important part of coach Roberto Martinez's plans.

So far, the Al-Nassr striker has repaid his faith by scoring two goals in two games as the Selecao began their Nations League campaign last month.

As Portugal face Poland this Saturday, he hopes to build on that and continue to defy the doubters by adding to his 905 career goals. Martinez is certainly not one of them.

“It's very difficult to be Ronaldo,” the Spanish coach told website Zerozero.

“It makes sense to ask about his age, but we monitored his performance (during the Euros) with statistics that show he was used well. I have confidential information to back that up.”

Expresso, a leading Portuguese weekly newspaper, has ironically described them as “top secret” figures. Whatever they are, they were enough to justify Ronaldo's place in the team for the 2026 World Cup cycle.

“The whole debate is not about his age, but much more,” Tomas da Cunha, football expert at Dazn and TSF Radio, told BBC Sport.

“Pepe was 41 years old and yet his performances in the summer were widely praised. Ronaldo's performances, however, left a lot to be desired at the last World Cup and European Championships. Fernando Santos (former Portuguese coach) tried to end his untouchable status, but that didn't happen with Martinez.