Paradox: If Ronaldo is put on the bench, will Portugal… play better?

In the EURO 2024 qualifiers, Ronaldo was the second best scorer, behind only Romelu Lukaku (10 goals compared to 14 goals). In the 2023-2024 season, he scored a total of 41 goals for Al-Nassr in all competitions. Those impressive statistics, combined with the fact that the Portuguese team owns a quality squad, make many fans believe that Ronaldo is still strong enough to "burn" in what could be the last EURO of his career.

CR7 in Portugal's starting lineup

Early in the morning of June 19, coach Roberto Martinez named Ronaldo in the starting lineup for the match against the Czech Republic. CR7 played as a striker with a squad of extremely high-quality "satellites" such as Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao and Joao Cancelo. If you look at the statistics or review the match highlights, many people might mistakenly think that Ronaldo played impressively.

After the match, Whoscored gave him nearly 7 points, just behind Vitinha, the best player of the match. CR7 made 5 shots, 3 of which were on target. He made smart runs to finish, and also jumped high to head the ball into the post, creating conditions for Diogo Jota to shake the opponent's net, but unfortunately the goal was disallowed due to offside.

Ronaldo with very good teammates

But the truth is that Portugal were pretty stuck against the Czech Republic. Both goals they scored came from mistakes by the opposition centre-backs. Portugal could have done better. They controlled the game with nearly 74% possession and 19 shots.

However, the attacking players under coach Martinez looked at Ronaldo too much. It is unclear whether it was the head coach's instructions or unconsciously, but Leao, Bruno, Bernardo, and Vitinha prioritized sending the ball to Ronaldo's position, regardless of whether they had other more effective solutions. Typically, in a situation in the second half, Man City star Bernardo decided to pass the ball inside to Ronaldo, even though he could have finished.

Ronaldo is no longer strong enough at the age of 39

As a result, the ball was blocked by a Czech defender. And even if the ball was successful, Ronaldo did not have time to get in to finish. “One problem when Ronaldo is on the pitch is that his teammates start to hesitate. These are players who need to be themselves to shine. Bernardo, Bruno, Leao or Jota need freedom and comfort to play better,” commented journalist Jonathan Liew of the leading British newspaper The Guardian .

At 39, Ronaldo can hardly maintain the physical strength to compete with opponents, to support defense or to break away to score. He still has the ability to move skillfully, but time has taken too much from him. CR7 still has the desire and effort to change himself, shown through the situation of dropping deep and backheeling for Vitinha to run up. But perhaps, the EURO stage is no longer the place for this legend to shine.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nghich-ly-cat-ronaldo-len-ghe-du-bi-bo-dao-nha-se-choi-hay-hon-185240619142344128.htm