Was it all wrong about Ronaldo?

Ronaldo stars

Before assisting Bruno Fernandes to score against Türkiye (Portugal won 3-0), Cristiano Ronaldo had a controversial first half.

In the situation where Portugal opened the score in the 21st minute, Ronaldo tried to stretch to shoot after a pass from his teammate. However, the 39-year-old superstar lost his footing and fell to the ground. Luckily, Bernardo Silva responded with a decisive one-touch shot to score.

Ronaldo had a memorable match

At the goal that doubled the gap for "European Brazil" (minute 28), the situation was even more comical. Joao Cancelo and Ronaldo had a bad coordination, when Cancelo's opening pass went in the opposite direction of his teammate's movement. The two sides exchanged words before the situation ended. At this time, defender Samet Akaydin carelessly passed the ball back, in the opposite direction of goalkeeper Altay Bayindir's movement, giving Portugal a free goal. Many fans thought that it was the... argument between Ronaldo and Cancelo that startled the opponent and made a mistake.

At the end of the first half, Bruno Fernandes received a pass from Cancelo to run down and face Bayindir. Although Ronaldo ran to ask for the ball, Bruno shot it straight over the bar, before the two sides exchanged words. That is, even though he did not score or assist, the most notable situations were... directed towards Ronaldo. That is the privilege and also the suffering of the superstar.

When Ronaldo is misunderstood

Even Ronaldo's presence on the pitch has caused controversy. Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes the Portuguese superstar should be on the bench, because he is old and playing in a tournament of a much lower level than EURO. Merson is not the only one who agrees. However, coach Roberto Martinez thinks differently. The former Belgium coach wants Ronaldo to use his experience and influence to unite a Portuguese team that is inherently too ego-ridden.

In the victory over Türkiye, coach Martinez was right.

Although Bruno Fernandes did not pass the ball in a favorable position, Ronaldo "returned the favor" to his junior in the second half. In the face-off with Bayindir in the 56th minute, instead of finishing himself, Ronaldo set up Bruno Fernandes to score.

Ronaldo becomes the player with the most assists in EURO history

"Ronaldo could have chosen to shoot to easily score his first goal at EURO 2024, which would have been very meaningful to him personally (Ronaldo is leading the scoring list at EURO with 14 goals). But Ronaldo chose to pass the ball across for Bruno Fernandes to score," said the UF account.

"Ronaldo played one of the most... unselfish matches of his career. He dropped back, tackled, created chances for his teammates, assisted Bruno Fernandes and helped his teammates shine. That's the effect of a 39-year-old star," another fan shared on social network X.

The above comments are well-founded, as Ronaldo has made 3 key passes to his teammates, the second most in the Portuguese team (after Bruno Fernandes). In the match against the Czech Republic, Ronaldo also made 2 key passes, the most in the team.

The superstar wearing the number 7 shirt did not dribble much (only dribbled past people twice against Türkiye), but moved to attract people to open up space for teammates, handling the ball faster and more simply.

Ronaldo is expected to support his juniors

Ronaldo was labelled "selfish" throughout his prime, when the Portuguese midfielder only wanted to score goals. "Ronaldo's mindset is to score goals, he only cares about goals, instead of anything else. Ronaldo just wants goals," Wayne Rooney commented.

Looking at the positive side, it is clear that selfishness has elevated Ronaldo, helping him become more domineering and ruthless in the penalty area.

However, Ronaldo's selfishness is not as great as most people think. For example, at Real Madrid, in addition to 450 goals in 438 matches, Ronaldo also had 131 assists - a huge number for any star. Or at EURO 2024, Ronaldo just made history when he became the player with the most assists with 8 passes for teammates to score.

Ronaldo is a good passer and can play as a teammate when needed. The 39-year-old striker only shoots a lot because the coach assigned him this role. The task of scoring goals must be given to the best. And when Ronaldo is no longer the best, the 39-year-old superstar is ready to step back.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tat-ca-da-sai-ve-ronaldo-185240623014228605.htm