The most recent of them is Modric... players who sent farewell messages to Ronaldo after his international retirement

A number of players were keen to send farewell messages to Cristiano Ronaldo after his retirement from playing with the Portugal national team.

Ronaldo had decided to hang up his boots at the international level after a busy career that spanned nearly 23 years.

Cristiano Ronaldo posted a video on his Instagram account earlier, in which he revealed the end of his international career.

Croatian Luka Modric commented, addressing Ronaldo: “My great friend, number 1,” while Brazilian Neymar da Silva wrote: “Legend.”

Portuguese Bruno Fernandes said: “Thank you for the inspiration. It was a great honor to share wonderful moments in the national team with my childhood idol,” and his compatriot Rafael Leao commented, saying: “You are a role model for generations. Thank you for everything.”

Former Portuguese player Nani wrote: “Congratulations, my friend, on this wonderful journey. You have inspired us all and made us believe that we, as Portuguese, can be the best in the world. You have made us feel proud of ourselves, as a people and as a national team.”

He added: “For me, you are the best of all time, not only for the player you were and for everything you gave to our national team, but also for what you represented for all of us.”

While Pepe, who played alongside Ronaldo for Real Madrid and the Portugal national team, said: “It was more than just football. Thank you for everything, Chris.”

Former England player Rio Ferdinand wrote: “It was like a movie, bro.”

Manchester United of England, Juventus of Italy, Sporting Lisbon of Portugal and Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia also congratulated the 41-year-old on his international career, which recently came to a close.