From tears to triumph? Cristiano Ronaldo determined to have the last laugh at Euro 2024 after World Cup woe

The tears began to flow as soon as the full-time whistle blew in Doha on the night of December 10, 2002. Ronaldo was so upset he couldn't even bring himself to acknowledge Portugal's fans. The pain was too great.

A shock World Cup quarter-final loss to Morocco signified the death of a "dream". It also looked like the end of Ronaldo's international career. He was 37 years of age and quite clearly well past his brilliant best.

After relying on Ronaldo for almost two decades, the common consensus was that Portugal needed to move on. For so long the Seleccao's saviour, Ronaldo was now provoking more problems than he was solving.

In all honesty, Ronaldo looked finished at the very highest level in Qatar. He had arrived intent on restoring his reputation as a world-class forward after an embarrassing end to his second spell at Manchester United - but his World Cup campaign was a sad story of poor performances and pathetic petulance, resulting in Fernando Santos dropping the forward to the bench for the knockout stage.

It was a decision that sent shockwaves through world football, but was undeniably the correct call: Portugal performed better without their all-time leading scorer, who netted just once in Qatar and appeared to be in complete denial over his dwindling abilities.

Ronaldo didn't walk away, though. Crucially, Santos' successor didn't want him to either.

One of the first things Roberto Martinez did after being named as Belgium's new boss in January 2023 was fly to Saudi Arabia to see where Ronaldo was at, mentally.

"He wasn’t ready to step away,” he revealed. “He wanted to be a part of the new cycle and, so it was very easy to include him into the March camp. After that, I could make a footballing decision."

For Martinez, it proved a no-brainer. Ronaldo bagged braces in both Euro 2024 qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. It wasn't just about the goals, though, as far as Martinez was concerned.

"He was a real leader, a captain and someone who brings an experience that no other player has in world football," the Spaniard said. "He's someone who can reach 200 caps for his country. You need to make use of someone like that in your dressing room."

Portugal ultimately progressed to Euro 2024 with a perfect record, winning all 10 of their qualifiers. Only Belgium's Romelu Lukaku (14) scored more times than Ronaldo (10).

There are ongoing doubts, though, over the true strength of a team led by a 39-year-old now plying his trade in Saudi Arabia. Portugal's group was desperately weak, while it's worth noting that they've lost two of their four warm-up games, away to Slovenia and at home to Croatia.

Given the prevalence of pressing in the modern game, the wisdom of selecting a forward who contributes next-to-nothing to the defensive phase has also been questioned in certain sections of the Portuguese press. Martinez, though, insists that Ronaldo is acutely aware of what's required of him.

"It is obviously important for us to attack and defend with 11," he acknowledged. "Ronaldo is obviously a player who knows very well how to make use of space in the area and is a special finisher, a special player.

"But Cristiano's reaction to the loss of the ball and his attention to defensive positioning were both perfect during the games we played. So for me, there are no doubts, there are no worries."

However, an even bigger question mark arguably hangs over Ronaldo's game time. Will his minutes be managed? Martinez has pointed to the fact that Ronaldo has played a lot of games - and scored a lot of goals - this season, which quite conveniently overlooks the fact that the standard and intensity of the Saudi Pro League is well below that of elite European competition.

It would, thus, seem foolish to start a player approaching 40 in each and every game - particularly in the group stage. But, as we saw in Qatar, Ronaldo is not a character who takes kindly to being benched, or even withdrawn before the end of a game.

The man himself, though, insists that he will not cause any problems if Martinez decides to make full use of what is a vast and varied array of attacking talent. "I am 100 percent professional," Ronaldo declared. "I will be ready as always to help our country and respect the coach's decisions."

There certainly seems to have been a change in Ronaldo's attitude over the past two years. At the very least, he's in a much better place, psychologically, going into the Euros than he was ahead of the Qatar World Cup. He's acutely aware that he doesn't have long left in the game and seems determined to make the absolute most of it.

"As they say in Spain, 'every year that passes is a gift,'" he told SporTV after scoring twice in Portugal's final friendly against Ireland on Tuesday. "So, playing after the age of 35 or 36 is already a gift. I'm 39 now and I just try to enjoy every year.

"The important thing is to be physically and mentally well to be able to help the team. And, as everybody already knows, I am driven by a lifelong love for the national team. Whether playing in 2004, when I made my [European Championship] debut, or playing today, the feeling is always one of pride and passion. It doesn't get any better than this."

He still won't be willing to settle for second-best, of course. That's just not in his nature. Ronaldo always wants to score more goals, lift more trophies and silence more critics. Winning is always the perfect riposte, and glory is always the ultimate goal. It's what makes all the pain, uncertainty and hard work worth enduring.