“Are There Any Other Questions?” Ronaldo Debate Divides Portugal – “Not Tied To The Team”

Lots of criticism, teammates annoyed

With the quarter-final defeat against France, Cristiano Ronaldo’s European Championship career also comes to an end. After the 2016 European champions’ elimination, many people, not only in his home country, are asking themselves: How far could the Portuguese have got in this tournament without their old star? Opinions are divided.

It is not always easy to play in a team with Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal defender Rúben Dias, for example, won the Champions League with Manchester City and the English championship four times. The 27-year-old is a big name in European football himself, otherwise his club would not have paid around 70 million euros for him four years ago. No defender in the TM database is more valuable. After the European Championship exit against France in the quarter-finals, Dias stood at the exit of Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion and was asked not about his performance, but about that of CR7. Everything about the Portuguese revolves around their superstar, it has been like that for years. But after that bitter 3:5 penalty shootout, one of the best and most important teammates was fed up. “Are there any other questions?” asked Dias – and left.

For the European Championship record player and goalscorer Ronaldo, this defeat was the last European Championship game of his career. He will not be taking part in the next European Championship in 2028 in Great Britain and Ireland. The 39-year-old had already announced this before the France game.

Portugal discusses after European Championship exit: Would more have been possible without Cristiano Ronaldo?

For the ambitious and prestigious striker, this departure from at least one big stage was a real disaster, because the response was not: respect for someone who is still playing at this level at the age of 39. Rather: how far could the Portuguese have got in this tournament without him? What would have been possible if they had not sacrificed the principle of performance for the most famous player in their history, but had instead trusted Gonçalo Ramos (PSG), who is 16 years younger, or Diogo Jota (Liverpool FC), who is 12 years younger, in attack? These questions are supported by the bare numbers:

In his eleventh World Cup or European Championship, Ronaldo failed to score for the first time. On Friday evening, he only touched the ball 40 times in 120 minutes of play. The duel between the superstars and France’s ailing striker Kylian Mbappé passed him by completely. Portugal’s largest sports newspaper, A Bola, gave Ronaldo the worst rating of all players on Saturday. “The team improved its performance compared to previous games. However, the same could not be said for the captain,” it said in justification. “He was neither connected to his team-mates nor able to assert himself.” The conclusion of the English “Guardian” was even more devastating. “Portugal against France: A galactic battle lost in the black hole of one man’s ego,” read the newspaper’s headline.

Even before the tournament, there was great skepticism about the superstar in his home country. Marcel de Almeida, Data Administrator Portugal at Transfermarkt, said in June: “Ronaldo is still scoring goals, but he is changing the national team’s game for the worse. He doesn’t move as much up front anymore. When he drops to pick up the ball, it’s counterproductive. He’s usually out of the running against stronger opponents because he simply doesn’t have the power to be on the move for 90 minutes. Many people are calling for him to take a back seat, while others say that he still has the same status as he did a few years ago. The majority are in favor of a nomination, but not a guaranteed starting place.”

Other players seemed inhibited by him, “because he is always the center of attention, demands every ball and often shows with his gestures that he does not approve of one decision or another when the ball does not go to him,” said de Almeida. The harsh judgments now go back to the widespread suspicion that Ronaldo’s influence on the Portuguese team is still far too great. Nobody dares to criticize him or put him on the bench. And he himself puts achieving personal records above the success of the whole team. There are indications of this, too: for example, that almost all of the Portuguese players – apart from the captain – consoled the only missed kick, João Félix, after the penalty shootout. Or that 20 of the 26 players in the Portuguese squad at this European Championship are represented by Ronaldo’s management. This also strengthens his position.

Only Portugal’s coach Roberto Martínez insisted until the end of the tournament that his commitment to Ronaldo was purely for sporting reasons. “For us as a national team, he is a role model,” said the Spaniard. “He wants to win every day. He wants to compete every day.” It is unclear whether Ronaldo will continue until the next World Cup in two years. He himself disappeared without comment into the team bus after the France game. And Martínez also avoided questions about it. Even the 41-year-old Pepe could not bring himself to leave the national team on Friday evening. This is not the right time to talk about it, said Ronaldo’s long-time friend and teammate.

One thing is certain: Portugal’s team has a bright future even without these two veterans. Diogo Costa (FC Porto), Vitinha, Nuno Mendes (both Paris Saint-Germain) or Rafael Leão (AC Milan): none of these regular players is older than 25. And top talents are constantly emerging. “It’s a tough moment today. But there’s still a lot to come from us,” said Rúben Dias. And that’s more likely without Ronaldo than with him.