Bakero called Ronaldo's departure from the Portugal national team «a very smart decision»

Former Barcelona and Spain player José Mari Bakero, speaking on Cadena SER, assessed the decision of 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo to end his career with the Portugal national team. On the Spanish broadcast, the departure was linked to the chase for 1,000 official goals: according to the radio station's calculations, CR7 currently has 985 goals, with 15 left to reach the milestone.

Aziz KarimovFirst published on tafs uz 5 November 2026 at 19:142 min read

The key facts

Ronaldo ended his career with the Portugal national team with a record: 146 goals in 234 matches
According to Cadena SER's calculations, Ronaldo has 985 official goals, with 15 left to reach 1,000
José Mari Bakero called the decision «very smart», noting that the true causes of conflicts within national teams are usually not visible from the outside

Assessment on Spanish airwaves

Cristiano Ronaldo's decision to end his career with the Portugal national team may prove strategically advantageous for the final stage of his career — that is the opinion expressed on Cadena SER by former Barcelona and Spain player José Mari Bakero. Discussing the 41-year-old Portuguese's departure from the national team, he recalled that conflict situations inside a national team are always more complicated than they appear from the outside. «He made a mistake, but with players of this type you never really know what actually happened. It is a difficult situation. I think he has now made a very smart decision», — Life.ru quotes Bakero.

The chase for 1,000 goals

On Cadena SER, Ronaldo's departure was linked directly to another goal at the finish of his career — the milestone of 1,000 official goals. According to the radio station's calculations, CR7 currently has 985 goals for clubs and the national team, meaning he needs 15 more to reach the historic mark. After ending his international career, he will be able to do this only with Al-Nassr. The player himself has previously made no secret of the fact that the thousand-goal milestone remains one of his targets, and FIFA has also noted his approach to that mark.

His record with the national team

Ronaldo ended his career with Portugal holding the world record — 146 goals in 234 matches. From now on, all his playing time and recovery between matches will be connected only with the Saudi Arabian club. The circumstances of the departure itself remain as reported by Life.ru: the outlet separately wrote that the decision was announced a day after the application and followed the failure of a reconciliation with Jesus, and that «with players of this type you never really know what actually happened» — this is Bakero's assessment, not a confirmed fact of a conflict.