Cristiano Ronaldo will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest players that the sport of football has ever known. The scorer of 419 goals in 546 appearances for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, Ronaldo has set records wherever he has played, and has amassed six domestic titles along with an astonishing five Champions League winners’ medals.

And at international level, he has been just as prolific. Having scored 85 goals in 156 matches, he has almost single-handedly carried the Portugal national team in the era following the retirement of the likes of Luis Figo and Rui Costa. In his first international tournament, at Euro 2004, he helped Portugal reach the final, and since being named captain in 2007, he has led the team on and off the field, famously winning Euro 2016.

But Ronaldo can’t go on for ever. He is 34 and has suffered a number of injuries in recent months. He was rested for the entirety of the league stage of the Nations League and although fans who tune in to watch the play-offs on SKY this month will once again have the chance to watch one of the giants of the modern era turning out for his national team, the clock is clearly ticking on his international future. With Portugal rated as 28/15 favourites by bookmakers to win the Nations League, Ronaldo could add another piece of international silverware to his collection, but whether his career will extend as far as the 2022 World Cup has to be in doubt.

So how will Portugal fare in his absence? The most obvious problem is in replacing his goals. Portugal’s lack of goals is a long-standing problem. Even in the days of Figo and co, they often lacked a prolific goal scorer, and in Ronaldo’s absence, it is hard to see where the goals might come from. Without their star player, Portugal fared well throughout the Nations League Group games, going undefeated to top a tough group. But they only managed to score five goals in four games.

Yet there are promising talents coming through. Andre Silva, currently on loan at Sevilla from his parent club Milan, was the main attacking threat during the Group stages of the Nations League. Also in his early twenties is Manchester City star Bernardo Silva, who has yet to show his full potential. In fact, five of the seven forwards named in the Nations League squad are aged 26 and under.

The biggest challenge could come in replacing defensive veteran Pepe. Whereas Portugal’s strength in recent years has been based on a rock solid defence, allowing Ronaldo to orchestrate the attack, future Portugal teams may have to offer a more comprehensive attacking strategy, focusing on utilising their creativity, which may ironically mean that a post-Ronaldo Portugal end up being a more creative, more exciting team to watch.

For the time being, however, we should still enjoy watching Ronaldo while we can. And with him leading the way, football fans checking out the best odds on Bigbetbookmakers.com will be wary of betting against him adding another trophy to his impressive collection.