Cristiano Ronaldo is being considered as one of the three over-23 players for Portugal at the 2016 Olympic Games, reports.
The Real Madrid forward, 30, has enjoyed a glittering career at club level but silverware on the international scene has eluded him, with a runners-up medal at Euro 2004 the closest he’s come to winning a trophy with the Seleccao.
Portugal booked their spot in next summer’s Olympics due to the Under-21 side reaching the last four of June’s European Championship finals and, on Tuesday, they could win the tournament with a victory over Sweden’s Under-21s.
Portugal Football Association (FPF) president Fernando Gomes says that planning for Rio 2016 is still in the early stages but admitted Ronaldo could feature at the Games.
“It’s a possibility,” Gomes told Globo Esporte when asked about Ronaldo being involved in the Olympics.
“We can take three players aged over 23. Ronaldo is one of our current options but we have not thought too much about it yet.”
Sixteen teams will compete for the gold medal in the men’s football event in Rio, with the three other European entrants confirmed as Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
Should Ronaldo still be at the Santiago Bernabeu heading into the 2016-17 campaign, Madrid are likely to heavily object to Ronaldo’s participation in the Olympics due to the close proximity to La Liga’s start date in August.
Barring injury, Ronaldo is also likely to be involved in the Euro 2016 finals, assuming Portugal remain in the top two teams of their qualification group.
Portugal currently sit top of Group I with half of their matches played, ahead of Denmark, Albania, Serbia and Armenia.