Mourinho comments on Cristiano Ronaldo’s international retirement

José Mourinho respected Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to retire from playing for Portugal, but said the player’s career was not over and that he was still pursuing other goals. Ronaldo announced his decision on Thursday in a video posted on social media.

Mourinho, who coached Ronaldo at Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, said he regretted the way the retirement announcement was made, without explaining what he would have preferred instead.

The Benfica coach declined to speculate about the possibility of Ronaldo moving into coaching in the future, explaining that he did not know what was on his mind and that the player was still playing football.