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Cristiano Ronaldo has announced his retirement from international football in a video posted on his official Instagram account on Thursday.
The 41-year-old forward, Portugal’s captain and the all-time leading scorer in men’s international football, shared the video with the caption “Portugal will always be in me.”
"To the Portuguese people, the day has come for me to hand back the number seven shirt of our national team," Ronaldo said in the video, referring to his iconic shirt number.
"I never felt it belonged to me alone, but for 23 years I had the privilege and the responsibility of wearing it, defending it and carrying it with me into stadiums all around the world," he continued.
Ronaldo made 234 appearances for Portugal and scored 146 goals. His announcement follows a dispute with national team coach Jorge Jesus that began in late September, when he was an unused substitute in Portugal’s 2-1 Nations League win over Norway on Sept. 27.
He went straight to the dressing room at the final whistle in Oslo and did not join his teammates in applauding the traveling fans, for which he later apologized.
Three days later, on Sept. 30, Ronaldo left the Portugal training camp in Copenhagen. He accused Jesus of twice breaking his word, a claim the coach denied, saying he had not agreed with the player.
The Portuguese Football Federation suspended Ronaldo for 30 days and fined him €255 (about $286). At the time, Ronaldo said he was not retiring from international duty.
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