In the World Cup play-offs, Portugal will first play Turkey, and if they do, Portugal may face The European Champions Italy. In the two life-and-death battles, C Ronaldo is still the core player relied on by the old coach Santos, however, for the first time, Portuguese fans have questioned: without C Ronaldo, will the Portuguese national team become more outstanding?
Cristiano Ronaldo harmed the Portuguese national team?
In his career, scoring goals has always been Ronaldo's killer skill, on the contrary, organizing, planning attacks, and pressing and pressing in the front is not his specialty.
After entering 2022, C Luo's state plummeted, and his contradictions with Ronnick were completely exposed. After learning that he could not start in the Manchester Derby, C Ronaldo even flew back to Portugal to "heal".
In the Portuguese national team, Cristiano's situation is different, Sanchez still regards the United striker as the absolute core, and the tactics have always revolved around Cristiano Ronaldo. Still, the Portuguese national team has one thing in common with Manchester United, which is that the results are constantly declining.
A year ago, the Portuguese national team was fifth in FIFA, and due to an early exit from the European Championship and a poor performance in the World Preliminary Round, the Portuguese national team has slipped to eighth place.
There is no doubt that Ronaldo's performance in the national team is also unsatisfactory. If you only look at the UEFA Nations League qualifiers, Euro 2020 and this World Cup, then Cristiano Ronaldo scored an average of 1 goal in 180 minutes (excluding penalties).
Not only that, C Ronaldo touched the ball less and less in the penalty area, and in these games there were only 47 touches in the penalty area. In the champions league quarter-final two legs against Atletico, Cristiano only touched the ball twice in the box, which was the key reason for the decline in his goals.
Bottom score efficiency
If United's strikers are not in good form collectively, Santos has more and better options, with Jota, Cancelo and Bernardo Silva all being among the best players in their respective positions.
This season, Jota has scored 13 goals in the Premier League, surpassing Ronaldo, who scored 12 goals, to become the Portuguese player who has scored the most goals. When they also played for the Portuguese national team, excluding penalties, Jota also averaged 0.69 goals per game more efficiently than Cristiano Ronaldo (0.63 goals). Jota's strength is also in age and running, and this season, the Liverpool winger has made a total of 420 attempts, while Cristiano Ronaldo has only 143.
In fact, Cristiano Ronaldo is not even the Portuguese striker involved in scoring the most goals. During this season, Ronaldo has scored 21 goals at Manchester United, scoring 18 goals and giving 3 assists. However, Andre Silva, who plays for Leipzig, scored 23 goals (15 goals and 8 assists) and Liverpool striker Jota scored 22 goals (19 goals and 3 assists), both of which surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo.
In addition, Valencia striker Guedes scored 18 goals (13 goals and 5 assists), Milan striker Leo scored 17 goals (11 goals and 6 assists), and Atletico forward Felix scored 14 goals (8 goals and 6 assists).
Since 2022, Ronaldo's form has declined significantly, and despite a hat-trick against Tottenham, the United striker has scored only four goals (0 assists). Andre Silva has been involved in 10 goals (7 goals and 3 assists), Felix has also been involved in 10 goals (6 goals and 4 assists), Leo has participated in 9 goals (6 goals and 3 assists), and Guedes and Jota have all been involved in 8 goals (7 goals and 1 assist), all at least twice as many as Ronaldo.
In 2022, Andre Silva averaged 1 goal in 132 minutes, Felix scored 1 goal in 156 minutes, Leo (185 minutes), Guedes (173 minutes) and Jota (157 minutes) also had good efficiency, while Cristiano Ronaldo finished with 1 goal in 275 minutes.
The controversy continued to start
Although Ronaldo's form at Manchester United is rather sluggish, the Newspaper predicts that Ronaldo will still start and form a double arrow with Jota, bernardo Silva, Willian Carvalho, Moutinho and Bruno Fernandez to form a four-midfielder.
So why does Santos continue to use Ronaldo? Ahead of the life-and-death battle against Turkey, the boss said, "No team in the world will play better without the best players in the world." ”
In addition to the trust of the old coach, the rhythm, pressing strength and fluency of the national team are often lower than the club, which is conducive to the play of Ronaldo. In key battles, Cristiano Ronaldo often has magical performances, and the hat-trick against Tottenham hotspur is the best evidence.
In the 2012 European Championship and the 2014 World Cup, C Ronaldo scored 6 goals against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sweden, almost single-handedly helping Portugal reach the main tournament, so he was known as the king of the play-offs.
However, Portuguese fans have gradually lost patience. After returning to the national team, Cristiano Ronaldo shouted on social networks, "We know that this road will not be smooth, and we will work together to get Portugal back to its own position." ”
However, he was ridiculed and criticized by fans, and on the Ball Newspaper message board, some fans said, "We have a tactically rigid veteran coach and a nearly 40-year-old striker who has no speed, defensive ability and desire to steal." Even if he has made almost no contribution and still demands a start for every game, the road will definitely not be smooth. ”
The 2022 World Cup has the potential to be Ronaldo's last World Cup, and he certainly doesn't want to miss out on the last chance to play in the World Cup. Even if he becomes the king of historical goalscorers and the all-time goalscorer of the national team, Ronaldo still hopes to save Portugal once again and become a hero in the hearts of Portuguese fans.
This time, can he still do it?