Abdul Fattah

🚨 Luis Figo on Portugal reportedly considering a farewell match for Cristiano Ronaldo: “I think Portugal are beginning to understand something they should have understood before all this happened. When you call Cristiano Ronaldo, you don’t call one player. You call millions of people. I know this because I’ve travelled around the world. You go somewhere where people cannot name three Portuguese cities, but they own a Portugal number seven shirt. Why? Cristiano. There are children in countries with absolutely no connection to Portugal who grew up celebrating Portugal goals because one Portuguese boy became their hero. There are professional footballers playing today who were those children. So when Portugal play, they watch. When Portugal win, they celebrate. When Portugal lose, they suffer. Portugal inherited one of the biggest fanbases in football without signing anybody. Cristiano brought it with him. And this is why I never understood how the situation was allowed to become so ugly. You can bench Cristiano Ronaldo. You can tell him his role is changing. You can prepare a national team for life without him. Of course you can. Football continues. But with somebody this important, you manage the ending. You don’t improvise it. Cristiano has his own family, his own people, his own management, millions of supporters watching every decision. Portugal has its federation, coach, players and supporters. When something goes wrong between those two worlds, you don’t throw it into public and then act surprised when everybody chooses a side. Now I read they may bring him back for one final match. Good. But if true, don’t bring him back because you suddenly remembered he deserves applause. Bring him back because you finally understand what the goodbye means. I remember once somebody asked me what Portugal would lose when Cristiano retired. I said, ‘Goals.’ I was wrong. The goals are actually the easiest thing to replace. Eventually somebody else scores. What you cannot easily replace is the little boy in Africa who has never visited Lisbon but asks his father when Portugal play. The kid in Asia wearing number seven. The young footballer in Brazil, America, the Middle East, everywhere, who supports his own country first but somehow also wants Portugal to win. Those people came with Cristiano. Portugal should make sure they don’t leave with him. Because Cristiano retiring from Portugal should never mean Cristiano’s supporters retire from Portugal. That’s the opportunity here. Give him the farewell. Let the next generation stand beside him. Let him embrace them. Let people see him leave smiling and, afterwards, see him in the stands supporting Portugal like any Portuguese man. Then something beautiful happens. The next time Portugal play, Cristiano isn’t on the pitch. But millions of people who arrived because of him are still watching. That’s how you handle the end of an era. The greatest legacy Cristiano can leave Portugal isn’t that everybody remembers him. It’s that millions who came for Cristiano decide to stay for Portugal.”