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It's the end of an era for Portugal soccer. Cristiano Ronaldo announced Thursday he's retiring from international competition after 23 years with Portugal, finishing his run with the most international goals (146) and appearances (234) all-time.
While Ronaldo never delivered a World Cup to Portugal, he led his team to the doorstep with a semi-finals run in 2006. His longevity was unprecedented, as this summer he became the first player to score in six different World Cups.
Ronaldo gave a lengthy speech announcing why it was time to walk away now.
"To the Portuguese people," Ronaldo said. "The day has come for me to hand back to No. 7 shirt of our national team," he said in the letter. "I never felt it belonged to me alone. But for 23 years, I had the privilege and the responsibility of wearing it, of defending it and carrying it with me into stadiums all around the world. Today, the time has come to pass it on to the future.”
In honor of Ronaldo's retirement from international soccer, here are his top seven goals for Portugal, ranked.
Take a bow, Cristiano. It's been a remarkable career.