Five-time Ballon d;Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo will be playing the sixth Euro of his career to try and lead Portugal to success at Euro 2024, having last won in 2016.
Ronaldo is no longer young, approaching 'head four' at the age of 39, and he is currently not playing in Europe but in Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr.
Nevertheless, Ronaldo can maintain his body fitness well and excellent at that age. He will lead Portugal's new and younger generation like Joao Neves, Nuno Mendes, and Antonio Silva.
Ronaldo can set an example, not just because of his longevity, but also the character and mentality required to reach the highest level of a player's potential.
It takes the right mindset and also hard work to reach the world's top level, as Ronaldo has done while still actively playing in Europe and his rival who now plays at Inter Miami, Lionel Messi.
How strong Ronaldo's mentality and commitment to football has long been shown, such as when defending Juventus. His former teammate at Juventus, Sami Khedira, said why Ronaldo maximised his potential.
One of them was shown when Ronaldo admonished young Juventus player Federico Chiesa to focus on working in training sessions and the gym by ignoring Instagram and TikTok.
"Cristiano, when he came to Juventus, of course he had his ego. Federico Chiesa is like a fantastic young player. He had a phone in his hand and walked into the gym - Cristiano looked at him (and asked) 'What are you doing and where are you going?" Khedira told FIVE.
"Go to the gym with your phone - look, you don't need your phone, just go to the gym and work. Don't use Instagram and don't use any TikTok. Focus on your work."
"The young players (express) like, wow. But the quality of his training when he came to Juventus, it was like a different level. Every shot on target was like what I needed to score."
"Don't play for money but play for a bottle of wine or dinner. In my view, he (Ronaldo) is a competitive guy but also very friendly, kind and humble."
Portugal are in group F of Euro 2024 along with Turkey, Georgia and the Czech Republic.