you are right that young players will replace old players, this is not Ronaldo's problem why not play maybe because his performance has decreased compared to young players, old players like Ronaldo and other old players should also be aware of that and be prepared to be replaced, as before of course ronaldo used to be a young player replacing previous players who were retired and old, so i think people need to face the reality of that even though it's bitter
That would be a reasonable attitude but humans can be very unreasonable at times, what you are describing is just the way things work everywhere, with new generations taking over the older generations which in return they will be overtaken by newer generations as well, but this can be very difficult for some people to accept, in fact in other sports many star players retire before they are benched as their pride does not allow them to accept this new reality, so either Ronaldo accepts that being benched is now a possibility at Portugal or he retires from his national team.
I think what Santos (ex-Portugal coach) has done is very correct by backing up CR7 and prioritizing young players because of many considerations, that is football must regenerate
Until now the new Portugal coach has not been inaugurated, and rumors are circulating that the Portuguese football federation will prioritize coaches who prioritize CR7 to play! If the rumor is true I think it will be a setback for Portuguese football especially since Euro 2024 qualifiers will start