From Siu to see you: CR7 walks off, into people's hearts

The iconic 'Siu' celebration will no longer ring out on the international stage. Not all curtain calls are happy spectacles, a packed arena cheering the last hurrah of a performer par excellence. Cristiano Ronaldo had his floodlit moments in the cauldrons of Stade de France, Porto, Gelsenkirchen, Luzhniki, Wembley, the Bernabeu or Munich's Allianz Arena. On Thursday, Portugal's superstar announced his intention to retire from the country's national team in a social media post, bringing an end to one of the most illustrious careers in all football history. "The day has come back for me to hand back the number 7 shirt of our national team," he wrote in an 866-word message. "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. "Today, the time has come to pass it on to the future ... A journey that began in Aug 2003 and changed my life forever has come to an end. When I look back at everything with the national team, I don't just see the matches, goals, records or trophies." All expected him to say ‘obrigado’ at Dallas Stadium after Portugal lost to Spain in his last World Cup match on July 6, 2026. It marked his 27th appearance across a record six tournaments (2006-2026), making him the oldest player in a World Cup knockout match at 41. Instead, the Portugal great, if not the greatest, waited for his bete noire Lionel Messi to sail into the twilight at the Monumental Stadium, waited till national coach Jorge Jesus’ royal ignore forced him into an ugly spat, a chase to the airport to coax him back. Of late, Cristiano had been making headlines for the wrong reasons. Images of Cristiano struggling inside the rival penalty box have long overshadowed his overwhelming prowess that made him snatch five Ballons D’Or to Messi’s eight. Their game of one-upmanship spread across two decades leaving the world gasping for more. Gen Z is cleaved down the middle over the Portuguese and the Argentinian. The discourse will take some years to lose steam. No men’s footballer has made as many international appearances (234) or scored as many goals (146) for their nation as Ronaldo. As a testament to his longevity — 94 of them came after his 30th birthday. The five-time Ballon d’Or-winner made his international debut in 2003, and won the 2016 European Championship, in addition to two Nations League titles, with Portugal. Ronaldo scored three goals at this summer’s World Cup as his nation exited in the Round of 16. Recalling his great matches would be an exercise in academic drudgery. The hat-trick against Spain in Sochi in 2018 and the World Cup qualifier goals against Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden in 2013 are just the tip of the iceberg. So are the moments of irony. In 2012, Luis Nani missed one on a platter offered to him by Cristiano in the Euro semifinal against Spain. Portugal lost. Four years later, Cristiano’s final against France ended in a tear-soaked heartache, injured and substituted after 25 minutes. Portugal went on to win their first continental title. Before Ronaldo, a senior Portugal side had never won anything, had only made the World Cup semifinals twice, in 1966 and 2006 (his first World Cup). With him leading them, they won three trophies in nine years.

Madeira, his birthplace, has a museum as a tribute to its most famous son. Like Santos has one for Pele. Accolades will continue to flow and the ‘Siuuu’ celebration will be replicated by boys across the globe for years to come. For now, like Messi, Ronaldo will keep playing at club level, and is expected to finish his club career at the end of this season with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. He is in pursuit of his 1,000th career goal and currently sits on 985. The immortal longings refuse to die. As his goodbye post reads: “Goals fade. Trophies end up in museums. Records are eventually broken. But there is something that time can never erase: the place we hold in people’s hearts.”