Portugal boss Fernando Santos does not believe Euro 2016 represents Cristiano Ronaldo s final chance at international success.
Ronaldo will be 33 by the time World Cup 2018 kicks off in Russia, assuming Portugal qualify, leading many to believe it s now or never for the Real Madrid superstar.
But Santos, speaking ahead of his team s Group F opener against Iceland in Saint-Etienne on Tuesday, places little interest in a player s age.
He said: Ronaldo is great, he s highly motivated. He was motivated when he got here from winning the Champions League with Madrid and that has grown.
We all have the same ambition. I don t think it s his last chance, he still has a few years ahead of him. We are all here regardless of how old we are – 18 or 38.
In some ways, we are all thinking this is our last opportunity so that we give everything on the pitch.
Santos claims he s not yet sure how he will deploy Ronaldo against Lars Lagerback s men, adding: 3-4-3, 4-3-3 or 4-4-2, we don t know what s going to happen. [Germany s Mario] Gotze doesn t look like a traditional striker and he was their striker [against Ukraine on Saturday].
Ronaldo scores 50 goals a season and he s not technically a striker.
Santos also found time to defend centre-half Bruno Alves over suggestions, reportedly from the Iceland camp, that he is a dirty player , following his dismissal against England in a pre-tournament friendly at Wembley for a head-high challenge on Harry Kane.
He said: I ve known Bruno for many years, I coached him in Greece and Portugal before that. He does everything he can but he s played 85 times for the national team and has one red card.
I ve seen players with fewer games get more red cards. When you look at the statistics you know he s not a violent player.
On paper, Portugal should ease past Iceland but Santos is expecting a close encounter.
We are playing a good team, the coach is excellent and knows exactly what he wants, he said.
It will be a well-balanced match. It will be difficult but we will try to be as creative as possible and I think we can win this match.
Every match in these Euros will be balanced because third place can still qualify and this will make the games a lot tighter.
