The Spanish coach, however, chose to maintain his confidence in him, and Cristiano responded with 28 goals in the 37 matches he played during Martínez's tenure, which concluded after the 2026 World Cup.
He was Portugal's top scorer during those three years and, in addition, the second most used player by Martínez, only behind Bruno Fernandes, who participated in 41 matches.
The figure is particularly significant given the age at which Cristiano managed to maintain that level of performance: he played through the entire Martínez era between the ages of 37 and 41.
His average was 0.76 goals per match, close to the one recorded during the long period under Fernando Santos, with whom he scored 68 goals in 82 matches (0.83), and higher than those of his early coaches.
With Paulo Bento, he had scored 27 goals in 38 matches (0.71); with Luiz Felipe Scolari, 21 in 58 (0.36); and with Carlos Queiroz, two in 18 (0.11).
Decisive at 40
The last Nations League won by Portugal probably constitutes the most significant example of the scoring prowess that Cristiano maintained under Martínez's orders.
At 40 years old, Ronaldo finished the 2024-2025 edition with eight goals in nine matches and scored in both decisive games of the final phase held in Germany.
He scored the goal that gave Portugal a 2-1 victory against Germany in the semifinals and scored again in the final against Spain, where he made it 2-2, taking the match to extra time and subsequently to penalties.
Portugal won that shootout 5-3 and clinched their second Nations League, their third major title in history after the Euro 2016 and the first Nations League, won in 2019.
Ronaldo thus ended the tournament by lifting an international title at the age of 40 and having scored in both the semifinal and the final.
