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Ronaldo plans to play on

02 Jul 2006 - 14:42:26

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Record-breaking striker Ronaldo has no intention of retiring from international football following Brazil's World Cup quarter-final defeat against France.

By his own standards the 29-year-old endured a poor tournament in Germany, despite netting the three goals he needed to become the all-time leading scorer in World Cup finals football.

Ronaldo, who was part of the Brazil squads that triumphed in 1994 and 2002 and reached the final in 1998, knows that younger players are emerging to threaten his place in the team, but insisted he is ready for the challenge.

"My intention is to always go back and play in the national team," said the Real Madrid star.

He also claimed Brazil's players could be proud of their 2006 campaign, despite being outplayed for long periods of the 1-0 loss against France.

"We didn't play badly, but obviously it hurts to go out of the World Cup," Ronaldo added.

"I think we gave our maximum but it wasn't enough.

"We knew the big expectation in Brazil and we also wanted to go far but we are proud of the sacrifices that people have done in order to be here.

"We are sad, but we will be happy because our tournament overall hasn't been a bad one."