Cristiano Ronaldo speaks on how long he'll keep playing & World Cup dream

Most footballers in their mid-30s have long since started to contemplate life after football as they plan to hang up their boots in the coming years - Cristiano Ronaldo isn't 'most footballers'.

The Juventus star was recently crowned Player of the Century at Dubai's Globe Soccer Awards - an award which has naturally been handed out 20 years into the current century, presumably due to the fact they feel nobody in the next 80 years could possibly surpass Ronaldo's achievements in the game.

And despite turning 36 in 2021, the Portugal international has insisted he has no plans to call it a day in the professional game, adding that he still feels sharp enough to play for 'many many years'.

"If you feel motivated, it doesn't matter," Ronaldo said as reported by Sky Sports. "Cristiano now is good. I feel in a great moment, but I don't know tomorrow what's going to happen. I live the present, the moment. Moment is good, I feel happy.

"I feel still good, sharp and in a good moment in my life. I hope to play many, many years more, but you never know. This is football, we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.

"When I speak with the young boys, I'm always giving advice to them. I say: 'Enjoy the moment, because you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. Something can happen in your life with your family. Enjoy the moment'.

"My eyes see the future very, very bright, so I'm happy with that."

Having won just about everything there is to win at club level, Ronaldo finally achieved his dream of success at international level as Portugal were crowned European champions at Euro 2016.

The former Manchester United man is confident the current crop of Portugal players can replicate their 2016 success at next year's rearranged European Championships, and believes they are a better team than the one that triumphed in France.

"It will be tough, but we are a good team, a young team," he added. "We have a fantastic coach [Fernando Santos], so we're very, very, very positive on that.

"We don't know what's going to happen - we have to think about our group - but I think we'll be good. Our team is better, we improved a lot, the young kids is becoming even better, so I'm very confident."

Not content with retaining his European crown, the Juventus forward says he sees no reason why he can't lead his country to World Cup glory in 2022, adding that it's his 'dream' to become a World Cup winner.

"We won 2016 and now we want to win the World Cup," said Ronaldo. "It's possible, yes, it's possible. Everything is possible.

"But you have to be realistic as well. As I told you many, many times, my dream is to win something for Portugal national team and I won two titles, which is making me feel happy. I win [with] every club that I played with, but World Cup… it's a dream. It's a dream."