At 41 years old, Cristiano Ronaldo is a shadow of the once brilliant player he was. Everyone can see it, except the great man himself. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is now focused on chasing the stupendous milestone of 1,000 career goals, which would be yet another achievement for a footballer obsessed with breaking personal records in a team sport. The 2026 World Cup marks yet another milestone achievement – the sixth time he has played in the tournament. It is a lot of soccer, and at the highest level, yet Father Time waits for no one, not even someone as rich and famous as Ronaldo.
Portugal’s manager Roberto Martinez must take a fair share of the blame. Why does he persist in picking Ronaldo?
This once supreme athlete is now a drag on the Portugal team. Horrible to think it but true enough. Yes, the statistics will record that Ronaldo scored in Portugal’s latest match: a 2-1 win against Croatia. But Ronaldo’s goal came from the penalty spot. Other than that, he huffed and puffed his way through the match, contributing very little of note. When he was substituted after 81 minutes, it was obvious enough that the great man felt this was a mistake. Ultimately, it is all about him.
It was largely the same story in the team’s opening 1-1 draw against DR Congo at the World Cup. Ronaldo labored his way through that game, and social media after the match was brimming with disparaging comments. One observer cruelly dismissed Portugal as “ten men and a statue”.
Ronaldo was indeed a passenger for much of the game, registering just 25 touches. Yet most of the crosses in the match saw his teammates targeting Ronaldo, as if he was the only player on the pitch.
The problem is that it is not much good being a one-man team when the man in question keeps misfiring. The other members of the team appear to have been reduced to a supporting act for the great CR7 who plays as if he is the only one on the field who can score.
Thierry Henry, the great France striker, got it right in his match analysis when he accused Ronaldo of being selfish.“The team needs to score, not you,” said Henry. That is an idea that is clearly lost on Ronaldo.
Portugal winger Francisco Conceição dismissed the notion that the team was obsessed with servicing Cristiano above all else: “We don’t have any obligation or need to pass the ball to him, “ Conceição said. “ Ronaldo is apparently “just another member of the squad”. Believe that if you will.
The wider statistics point to an enduring problem when Ronaldo plays for the national team. His record in the last three major international tournaments tells its own story. He has just one goal, and even that was a penalty scored in Portugal’s 2022 World Cup opening match against Ghana. In the three group stage games in Qatar where Ronaldo started, two of Portugal’s six goals came from penalties. Not only does he not score himself but he also appears to stop his teammates from playing well.
The Portuguese may well have some of the most skilled and experienced players in international soccer but they appear to shrink under the huge shadow cast by their superstar compatriot.
Portugal’s manager Roberto Martinez must take a fair share of the blame. Why does he persist in picking Ronaldo? Is he seeing something that mere mortals cannot see? Unlikely, I would suggest. There is more than a suspicion that Martinez is dodging the hard calls, perhaps the hardest call of all, and that he is simply too scared to drop him because of the headlines that would ensue. Martinez needs to grow a pair, and soon.
Tonight’s round of 16 clash with Spain, for a place in the quarter-finals, presents the biggest test yet. Persisting with Ronaldo could spell disaster for the Portuguese.
This supreme athlete and professional refuses to accept the dying of the light. His obsession with being the best of the best has yielded him soccer’s greatest prizes, and the stupendous wealth and fame that goes with it. He must surely know that he is no longer the player he once was. There is no shame in that. No one can take Ronaldo’s records away from him, and few will surpass all that he has achieved in his career. But he is in danger of overstaying his welcome at the elite level.
Rather like a boxer who cannot resist having one last fight, the end when it comes will be brutal and unforgiving. It is a tragic outcome for a soccer great who has given so much to the game.
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