Ronaldo: EURO would be my pinnacle
 |
| AFP |
Cristiano Ronaldo is targeting UEFA EURO 2016 glory with Portugal to crown his glittering career, the Real Madrid forward has said.
"At club level and on a personal level I've already won everything," said Ronaldo, who picked up the European golden shoe award this week after scoring 48 league goals in 35 games for Los Blancos last season. "But I haven't won a title with the national team," lamented Ronaldo, a beaten EURO 2004 finalist and a 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ and EURO 2012 semi-finalist.
"It would be the pinnacle of a great career (winning the European championship) and this is what I'm hoping for. My hope is that 2016 will be the year. We have a good coach and an excellent president and the new generation of younger players coming through has helped us move along," he explained.
Fernando Santos, who coached Greece at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, guided Portugal to qualification for EURO 2016 this week by topping Group I ahead of Albania, Denmark, Serbia and Armenia.
In his seventh season at Real Madrid, Ronaldo also told Marca he would love to continue at the club. "All being well I have a contract here until I'm 33 and as I have said time and again my dream is actually to finish my career here.
"I'm 30 now but I want to play another five or six years more. In fact If we look after ourselves it's possible to play up to 40 and that's what I'd like to do. I feel good here, I feel useful here and I want that to carry on.
In September Ronaldo became Real Madrid's highest scorer in history and the all-time top scorer in the UEFA Champions League.