"Because of everything he did and everything he is still doing now" - Portugal star hails Cristiano Ronaldo as his 'absolute idol'

Portuguese forward Jota Silva has hailed legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol. The Nottingham Forest winger broke into the Portugal national team at the age of 24, making his debut in March against Sweden in an international friendly.

Silva played alongside Portuguese legend and captain Cristiano Ronaldo for just one minute against Slovenia in their 2-0 friendly loss on March 26. In a recent interview with The Athletic, he spoke about Ronaldo's influence on him, saying:

“Cristiano Ronaldo is my absolute idol, because of everything he did and everything he is still doing now. There are no adjectives left to properly describe him. It was a dream for me to be called up for the Portuguese team and to get to work with him and the other great Portuguese players."

Jota Silva also heaped praise on other superstars in the Portugal squad, adding:

"It was not just Cristiano, it was Bernardo (Silva), Bruno Fernandes, (Joao) Felix, (Joao) Cancelo, Ruben Dias… it was amazing. They are some of the best players in the world and, as a child, my dream was just to have a chance to watch them play. It did not occur to me that I might one day be able to play with them."

Silva expressed his eagerness about getting another opportunity to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. He said:

"I will work hard every day to try to earn the opportunity to get back in that company. Portugal has so many talented players. But I will give my all for Forest and, if the national-team coach believes it is right, hopefully he will give me another chance to play for Portugal.”

In 14 appearances for Nottingham Forest this season, Silva has contributed one goals and assist each.

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Cristiano Ronaldo speaks about hitting the 1000-goal mark

Cristiano Ronaldo currently has the highest number of career goals in professional football at 915. He has a sizable lead as well, with Lionel Messi in second place with 850 career goals.

The Portuguese legend has been touted to become the first player to score 1000 professional goals for club and country. He addressed the issue in a conversation with YouTube sensation MrBeast, explaining (via World Soccer Talk):

“I will try (to hit 1,000 goals), let’s see. But I have to play probably two years more, I don’t know."

The 39-year-old has been in remarkable goal-scoring form this season, scoring 15 goals and providing three assists in just 18 appearances for Al-Nassr. For Portugal, he has scored seven goals and given two in 12 games in 2024.