Unable to continue their journey at EURO 2024, the Portuguese team had to return home and carry with them a difficult question: Do they still need Cristiano Ronaldo?
Falling on penalties to France in the quarter-finals after a goalless draw throughout 120 minutes of play – that was the end and summary of Portugal’s disappointing campaign in this year’s tournament, a journey overshadowed by a series of missed opportunities, in which superstar Ronaldo could not even find a goal of his own besides completing his role in the penalty shootout.
At 39, Ronaldo lacks the speed, explosiveness and agility that have become his trademark. Instead, he wastes chance after chance as his teammates’ passes almost exclusively find him, disrupting the rhythm of Portugal’s attacks and slowing them down.
Portugal’s future has looked bright over the past few years as they have a strong generation of talent, including excellent players in their prime such as Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao and Vitinha.
Former coach Fernando Santos attempted to reduce the influence of an ageing Ronaldo, relegating the once-talented player to the bench for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after he failed to make much of an impact.
But after a shocking defeat to Morocco in the quarter-finals, with Ronaldo running down the tunnel in tears after the match, Portuguese football officials decided to part ways with their long-time coach and chose to return to CR7 – the superstar who won the Ballon d’Or five times.
Coach Roberto Martinez consoles Ronaldo after Portugal lost on penalties to France in the quarter-finals. (Photo: Reuters)
In that context, right from taking over the “European Selecao” in 2023, new coach Roberto Martinez immediately trusted Ronaldo with the captain’s armband and leadership role.
Therefore, instead of building a team with the core of his rising stars, Martinez turned them into a “supporting cast” around Ronaldo so that this striker could have another chance to reach the pinnacle of glory at EURO 2024.
But ironically, this is another story of hope followed by disappointment, and has left Ronaldo reluctantly with another poor record on the biggest stage of continental football.
Despite a stellar career spanning more than two decades, breaking records and playing for some of the world’s most powerful clubs, the image that will probably linger in fans’ minds over the past three weeks in Germany is just a weary, disappointed shadow of a player on the other side of his career trying to fight the wheels of time.
In his sixth appearance at the European Championship, hoping to prove he could still make a difference at the highest level, Ronaldo failed miserably to make history, failing to score a single goal to become the oldest player to score in EURO history.
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Instead, in his second consecutive major international tournament, he will be remembered only for tears .
Portugal is used to Ronaldo being the centre of attention. He is one of the greatest players of all time, a figure so great that he raised the bar and raised the standard of sport in his country.
Ironically, Ronaldo’s stubbornness in trying to prove that he can withstand the ravages of time has deprived new recruits of the opportunity to take the next step and prove their worth.
With Ronaldo unlikely to retire after landing at Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr on a huge £173 million ($221.58 million) a year deal, it remains to be seen whether his future with the Portuguese national team is secure.
