Cristiano Ronaldo is 41, but Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said age is only a number and that his captain is judged on current form and by the same standards as everyone else.
Ronaldo could play in a sixth World Cup, with this year’s tournament in North America set to begin in less than a month, a staggering possibility even for a player who has twisted football’s record books into new shapes.
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Yet Martinez, speaking to the Reuters news agency in Lisbon on Thursday, insisted Portugal were not carrying a monument to past glory.
“We manage the Cristiano Ronaldo that plays for the national team trying to get into the squad for…