Cristiano Ronaldo Prepares for World Cup with Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo will step out in Leiria on Wednesday night with history at his back and another World Cup in his sights, but Roberto Martinez is determined to strip the occasion of any hint of nostalgia.

To Portugal’s head coach, this is not a farewell. It is work.

No room for sentiment

At 41, most footballers are a memory. Ronaldo is a problem for defenders and a benchmark for teammates. One more appearance in the United States, Mexico and Canada will make him the first man to play in six World Cups, yet Martinez insists his captain is not treating Nigeria as a curtain call in front of home fans.

“Our captain sets an example in everything he does,” Martinez said on Tuesday, framing Ronaldo not as a legend on a lap of honour but as the standard-bearer for a squad still in preparation mode. The coach underlined a simple message: this group cannot afford to drift into the future in their heads.

“He gives his all, 24 hours a day, to help the national team. Our captain and the rest of the players are not thinking about the future. We don't know what can happen in the future because they can get injured and there are decisions that are out of their hands.”

It was a reminder that in tournament football, careers can pivot on one bad landing, one mistimed challenge. Planning too far ahead is a luxury Martinez refuses to indulge.

Hunger at 41

Ronaldo’s longevity has long since slipped from impressive into astonishing. At an age when even greats are usually confined to punditry and legends matches, the Al-Nassr forward is still preparing to lead the line at the highest level.

For Martinez, that is not a quirk of genetics but a consequence of mentality. He has spoken before about the “hunger” that drives the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, and he returned to that theme again.

“The focus is on training, being the best, putting the concepts into practice and showing pride in wearing the shirt,” the Spaniard explained. “That's the example he sets. His sole aim is to use it for tomorrow to improve.”

The numbers back up the image. Ronaldo is already the all-time leader in men’s international appearances, with 227 caps, and the game’s most prolific scorer at this level, with 143 goals. Those statistics frame him as a monument of the modern era, but Martinez sees something more useful: a player still obsessed with the next session, the next game, the next detail.

Portugal will need that edge. Global glory has eluded Ronaldo across five previous tournaments. This squad travels to North America with enough talent to change that, and the captain remains central to the plan.

Final rehearsal before take-off

Nigeria arrive in Leiria as more than just a friendly opponent. They are the last test before Portugal board the plane and the closest thing Martinez has to a dress rehearsal for the World Cup opener against DR Congo on June 17.

The coach is expected to start Ronaldo, but the night will not belong to him alone. Martinez has already set out his intention to turn the game into a full-squad exercise.

“The idea is to make eleven substitutions and try to ensure everyone gets some playing time,” he said. “For five or six of our players it will be their first game. The focus is still on the individual and to give minutes to those that need it. Our number one priority is to get the players on the plane ready for the World Cup.”

That line says plenty about the depth at his disposal. Portugal’s strength, Martinez stressed, does not lie in a single superstar, but in the “commitment” of the group. The message to the squad is clear: the World Cup will be won by the collective, not the mythology of one man, however luminous.

“The responsibility is to prepare the players to help the team. To use their talent to win.” Short-term fitness, sharpness, rhythm — all of it matters more than the emotion of one final home outing before departure.

A dress rehearsal with meaning

Nigeria’s visit has been chosen with purpose. Martinez sees echoes of DR Congo in the Super Eagles’ profile and believes this match offers a chance to fine-tune specific elements of Portugal’s approach.

“We have an opportunity to work on aspects that are similar to what we'll face against Congo,” he said. “It's a group of very talented players. We have the structure and discipline to win every game.”

The coach keeps returning to that word: structure. Portugal’s current identity, in his eyes, is the product of a 15-year national project built in youth football — a philosophy of high pressing, quick defensive reactions and tactical discipline, overlaid with a generation of extraordinary individual talent.

“The statistics speak for themselves: goals, victories... Total commitment to pressing high up the pitch and defending quickly - that's the style, the result of 15 years of work in Portuguese youth football. As for tactics, I already said on the first day. The idea is to have tactical flexibility to adapt individual talent within the team's structure.”

The plan is simple to describe, difficult to execute: keep the pressing ferocious, the shape intact, and then let players like Ronaldo express themselves within that framework.

One more campaign, same obsession

So Leiria will see something unusual on Wednesday: a 41-year-old phenomenon treated not as a museum piece, but as just another elite professional expected to hit his marks in a final tune-up.

There will be fans in the stands who wonder if this is the last time they see Ronaldo in a Portugal shirt on home soil. Martinez refuses to indulge that storyline. For him, the only question worth asking is different, sharper.

With a captain who still lives “24 hours a day” for the national team and a squad drilled for 15 years to play this way, is this finally the World Cup where Portugal’s promise matches its ambition?