The Reasons Portugal Must bench Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2024 Euros

We were all duped by him. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a clear cut goal and gave himself the chance to break his tournament duck as he squared for Bruno Fernandes to put Portugal ahead 3-0 against Turkey in Group F.

Hugging the all-time leading goalscorer in his nation exceptionally tightly, his old Manchester United teammate was equally bewildered and double checked that it was indeed him.

This action was consistent with Ronaldo 4.0, who, after 39 years, convinced this writer that his most recent incarnation was a team player.

After being replaced, he vented his frustrations to a water bottle and then sat on the bench, holding his head high, attempting to calm himself. He had been gesticulating so much on the Gelsenkirchen pitch that it appeared as though his limbs were breaking off from his torso.

This was a group match that did not affect Portugal’s advancement to the round of sixteen; it was not the Champions League final. Ronaldo was back and more irascible than ever. He was the spoiled brat of old, a threat to his teammates.

The fact that this Portuguese team is among the best in history and has more than enough talent to win the Iberian nation its second European Championship makes Ronaldo’s antics more dangerous.

In the past, when Ronaldo was preoccupied with hurling toys out of the stroller whenever he had the chance, he was frustrated that he was carrying a large portion of the goal-scoring load alone, and on the rare occasions when he failed to score, neither did Portugal.

Ronaldo played the same role as any other central striker in any other team; he was an essential cog in the Portuguese attacking machine.

With Liverpool’s Diogo Jota on one side of him in attack in Germany and AC Milan’s Rafael Leao, arguably Serie A’s brightest star, on the other, as well as one of the Premier League’s best creators, Fernandes, behind him.

He also appeared to be more than comfortable meeting this criteria.
But those monsters were more difficult to subdue than we had anticipated.

Before Monday’s match against Slovenia in the round of 16, Portugal’s coach Roberto Martinez will be more worried than anybody since he runs the risk of attempting to trick with his second consecutive “golden generation.”

Belgium at the end of its cycle is the one you have witnessed stumbling through the group stages. Although there are some young players emerging, not nearly as many as their greatest-ever crop of outstanding superstars.

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