Cristiano Ronaldo confirmed his retirement from the Portugal national team on Thursday, November 5.

Ronaldo scored 146 goals in 234 appearances for his country, making him the highest-scoring player in international football history.

The ex-Real Madrid and Manchester United player put out a video on Instagram confirming the news, which included him saying: “To the Portuguese people, the day has come for me to hand back the number seven shirt of our national team.

“I never felt it belonged to me alone, but for 23 years I had the privilege and responsibility of wearing it, 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. It was not an easy decision, because some decisions are not made with the mind alone – they are also made with the heart.

“A journey that began in August 2003 and changed my life forever has come to an end.”

As expected, the social media post has garnered a lot of attention from people in the footballing world, including Neymar.

The pair were rivals for a time in Europe but the Brazilian has now shown his appreciation for Ronaldo, commenting ‘Lenda’ (legend) on his Instagram post followed by a clapping emoji.

Elsewhere, former Man Utd teammate Rio Ferdinand responded to the announcement by writing ‘It was a movie bro’ and the Premier League’s official account commented ‘Obrigado [thank you], @cristiano’.