Former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is facing the heat in his homeland as Portuguese media outlets call for him to be dropped in Portugal’s upcoming Euro 2024 clash with France.
Slovakia came close to eliminating Portugal from the European Championship on Monday night, after losing on penalties. Manchester United transfer target Benjamin Sesko has a glorious one-on-one opportunity to put the tie to bed in extra-time but he scuffed his chance.
The match was scoreless after extra-time before Portugal won on penalties. Ronaldo struggled throughout the game, wasting several chances and missing a penalty in extra time – leading to him breaking down in tears. The bet365 Bonus Code offers an excellent opportunity to take advantage of Portugal’s likelihood of going all the way in Germany this summer.
That didn’t stop Ronaldo from stepping up first in the penalty shootout. His goal helped send Portugal to the quarter-finals, but there are still doubts over the 39-year-old’s goalscoring abilities having moved his career to the Saudi Pro League.
Publico gave Ronaldo a 4/10 rating for his performance against Slovakia. Their summary read: “Another poor performance from the captain. Just like in the last game – although less so – he spent a lot of time on the ground.
“Then he made poor decisions in finishing areas, poor passes in front of goal – he ruined some plays – and was inaccurate in finishing.
“Ronaldo doesn’t attack space, doesn’t explore depth, doesn’t offer football in front of goal and doesn’t finish like he did at other times in his career – and it’s debatable whether Ronaldo, in this form, is more of a virtue than a flaw for this team.
“What would have happened with Ronaldo coming off the bench, fresh and with the Slovenians exhausted? We’ll never know.”
Roberto Martinez has a call to make, but I doubt he is strong enough to make one that would see Ronaldo – his captain – dropped from the squad. Some Portuguese publications have been calling for Ronaldo to be dropped and replaced by Liverpool’s Diogo Jota or Benfica’s Goncalo Ramos.
A Bola wrote: “It is true that Jota isolated Ronaldo and it was he who suffered the penalty that CR7 would miss.
“But these changes, theoretically with the aim of creating numerical equality in Portugal’s attack with Slovenia’s defence, served to accentuate the image of a team that has not yet found its form and that seems to be showing signs of Cristiano Ronaldo’s anxiety.
“[It is] similar to what happened in the World Cup in Qatar, where CR7’s tears at the end of the game against Morocco were spread around the world.”