World Cup 2026, LONG LIVE PORTUGAL (2): An Open Letter to Cristiano Ronaldo

Forty-one years old with 973 goals in 1327 official matches; 5 FIFA Ballon d'Or awards; 4 UEFA Golden Boots; three times recognized as the world's best player; the all-time leading scorer in the Champions League and European competitions; the all-time leading scorer for a European national team, and so on… this is truly remarkable!...

Optimal performance sometimes presents inconsistencies, obstacles, uncertainties, and conflicts, evident in the differing participation levels between training and competitions. Occasionally, excellent training sessions are followed by truly shocking performances in actual competitions. Other times, subpar performances, leading to substitutions in one game, transform into a resounding ovation in the next, showcasing excellence.

Facing instability caused by performance and results, coupled with the suffocating pressure of high expectations, failure to meet these can lead to tragic consequences. This can result in decreased concentration, reduced alertness, and a looming crisis of judgment, ultimately causing negligence and despondency.

However, the human capacity to adapt and overcome adversity is phenomenal. It's clear that some players, after experiencing setbacks, renew an overwhelming spirit, transforming any adversity into a mobilizing and unifying force that can ignite greater commitment to achieving success.

There's a noticeable public debate, fueled by some unfortunate turbulence, regarding Cristiano Ronaldo's substitution. Accusatory fingers are pointed, announcing his discredit, with bitter provocations from those who, in their audacity, cannot resist the mirror of their own ignorance, aiming to sound the death knell for the player's decline.

Everyone knows his dedication to achieving peak physical condition, both in his absolute commitment and performance in training (often the first to arrive and the last to leave) and in his own environment, where a multitude of equipment ensures specific complementary home workouts when necessary.

For Cristiano Ronaldo, shortcuts are unknown; the word 'problem' is almost always omitted, and 'challenge' is prominently emphasized in his current account!... He carries the footprints of lived experience in his soul and the certificate of a true winner on his face!... This relentless approach to conquering increasingly difficult and complex objectives, such as the opportunity to still reach 1000 official goals (only 27 more needed); winning a World Cup (we are in the fight and racing against time); the promise of owning a major global club and the chance to still play with his son, who turned 16 this past June 17th, are undoubtedly idealized commitments, serving as a remarkable source of creative inspiration!...

Underlying him is a well-supported plan of ideas that have become expectations, incorporated by desires and convictions assimilated from previously lived experiences, whose cognitive, emotional, and intuitive components are seriously interconnected by an experience turned reality and, as I often call it, anchored by the criterion of truth.

As for me, it would be a grave error to dismiss this asset, beyond the gratitude we should always express, as the noblest art of the human condition, for the time and circumstances that life's history has demanded of him.

I believe that beyond the relentless processes of managing athletic and functional physical training time, the impact of his family nucleus as an inexhaustible source of support, in fertilizing the ideal of happiness and the pleasure, joy, and also tenderness of living it, creates a feeling of robust intimacy.

And anyone attentive to his dynamic involvement will notice that behind this anchored consciousness of a state of happiness, there is a language of love and anger in his touch of the ball, still capable of transforming into movements of inspiration, the harmony of technical gesture in the art of playing well.

I truly believe that this inexhaustible source of energy, enveloped in a state of belief, or an operative intentional driving force, as Norman Cousins (1915-1990) would suggest, brings the content of a deep desire closer to the arc of his personal experience, capable of fostering a more resilient and lasting immune system for achieving success. I believe that one of the reasons behind his enduring career is contained in the account I previously presented.

Perhaps adapting the training and game plan to what I have repeatedly proposed for some years now: "a new global vision of sports training" – that is, a phenomenology of training with the integration of competencies in motivation, stress and anxiety, attention and concentration, cohesion, and objective formulation, etc., associated and potentially integrated with tactical-technical, athletic-functional aspects, duly evaluated and qualitatively personalized. In Cristiano Ronaldo's case, adapted to both training and games, according to time management and his circumstances… and my esteemed readers will forgive me, but I will not elaborate on the methodologies, as they are duly published and tested, many of which, the results speak for themselves.

From life to training… from training to the game… from the game to performance… from performance to results… from results to success — a path of energy where the light of reason rejoices with prolonged and intense applause.

Given the circumstances described, I am one of those who still believes in CRISTIANO RONALDO, and because he knows what it feels like, amidst the echo of consecration, some bitterness poured into the silence of his existence, he will dig deep into his soul and pull out what he has left.

… and as G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831) noted: "the owl of Minerva [wisdom] spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk."

In these curves of time, you will turn experience into reason and continue to transform your dreams into routines and victories into memories.

Well done, Cristiano!...

LONG LIVE PORTUGAL