Cristiano Ronaldo had tears in his eyes as he walked off the field and seemingly into international retirement.

It was the 2022 World Cup and Portugal had just lost to Morocco in the quarterfinals, a shocking result that left Ronaldo inconsolable.

He was nearly 38 years old. Unarguably past his best. No longer a guaranteed starter for his country.

Was this the last time the football world would see Ronaldo — one of the game's greatest-ever players — in a Portugal jersey?

We really shouldn't have underestimated him.

Eighteen months later, Ronaldo is still scoring hat-tricks, still breaking records, still owning that will to win and self-belief — not to mention the toned physique — which has long set him apart from pretty much anyone else.

And still a key member of the Portugal team heading to the European Championship in Germany as one of the tournament favourites.

Indeed, Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, who was hired weeks after the World Cup, has retained the 39-year-old Ronaldo as captain.

“For us, he brings that experience,” Martinez said, “but, more than anything, probably the biggest surprise is that he approaches every day as a new way to be the best, a new way to keep impressing.”

The Euros represent an opportunity for Ronaldo to remind fans that he is still a force in the game.

Since the start of 2023, he has been playing in Saudi Arabia, pretty much out of the global spotlight and in a league that has thrown money at some high-profile — if maybe over-the-hill — superstars to generate attention.

Ronaldo, earning a reported $200 million a year, is still pouring in the goals — he was the top scorer in the Saudi Pro League with 35, a record in that division — even if critics have been quick to point out the low standard of play in the country.

“We don't make choices based on where the players play," said Martinez. “He has become a central figure of a new project and the important thing for us, as a national team coach, is that he has been able to carry on scoring goals,” Martinez said.

“He's been the top goal scorer in 2023 in world football and he makes a total new beginning in a league that in the next few years is going to be talked about a lot.”

Ronaldo committed himself to Portugal even though it looked like his time with the national team was up after being benched for its knockout-stage games at the World Cup.

However, Portugal changed coaches — Martinez came in for Fernando Santos — and Ronaldo felt he still had plenty more to offer, not least adding to his world record of goals scored in men's internationals that now stands at 128.