It’s barely been only a few rollercoaster weeks where Portuguese ace Cristiano Ronaldo’s attempts to depart Manchester United and set sail for any club offering Champions League opportunities were unequivocally denied – leaving him compromisingly saddled on the United bench by gaffer Erik ten Hag – and the befuddled star has now found himself the target of the media in his own nation.
Ronaldo was on the receiving end of heavy criticism in the Portuguese press on the back of the 4-0 win over the Czech Republic where he inadvertently drew a blank besides conceding a penalty.
The Sun cites Portugal newspaper A Bola dedicating their entire back page solely to the mission of dropping the Selecao’s captain as they featured the headline “Less Ronaldo, more Portugal.”
The report, while explaining that despite Ronaldo’s mass of caps and goals for his country, claims he should be relegated to the bench due primarily to a lack of playing time for United across the 2022/23 season so far.
The suggestion was also mooted that teammate Bruno Fernandes should step up into the leadership role during games, with a poll organised by the publication showing that 57% of fans were against Ronaldo starting against Spain.
That has apparently been the tenor and the volatility of the circumstances under which Ronaldo entered the crucial game against Portugal’s Iberian neighbors, with the pressure being cranked up even higher when – despite the insistent fans’ pleas for Ronaldo not to start the game – Fernando Santos backed his star man from the off at the Estádio Municipal de Braga.
However, the Portugal ace was unfortunately not up to the mark and his was certainly not a vintage performance expected from the Selecao skipper despite the gaffer’s show of faith in him.
Portugal were crushed on a night that saw them miss out on a place in the Nations League finals as Ronaldo was reduced to the role of helpless spectator watching on as Alvaro Morata’s late goal snatched a 1-0 win for Spain.
As usual as has often been his customary behavior when things don’t go his way, Ronaldo was seen visibly angry and perturbed after the full-time whistle, throwing his captain’s armband in similar fashion to his reaction to Portugal’s exit from Euro 2020 last summer.
The problems actually far outweighed the result as Ronaldo’s individual output was one that could not have confused the Selecao fans on social media into thinking that the tough stance taken on the star by the Portuguese media had been misguided.
On the contrary, a haphazard, lackluster display from Ronaldo only seemed to lend credence to the perhaps alarming thought that starting him in the line-up might actually not be the best course of action for the Euro 2016 winners.
Reflecting on his numerous missed chances and general lack of sharpness on a tough day at the office, Ronaldo’s key moments from the 1-0 defeat really do give one a lot to mull over.
Although it was by no means a disaster class with SofaScore reporting a mixed batch of statistics including two shots on target, 82% passing accuracy, eight concessions of possession and two out of two long balls completed.
All the same, the disappointing results all match up to the fact that Ronaldo’s match rating of 6.7/10 was the joint-third-lowest amongst the Portuguese and Spanish starters.
This of course doesn’t augur well at all for the Portugal ace in silencing his detractors.