Cristiano Ronaldo is the Portuguese savior? 3 goals in the knockout round of 10 tournaments 0 goals and 0 assists in the World Cup Not as good as Messi

Portugal qualified for the European Championship and Cristiano Ronaldo is about to make his sixth appearance, setting his own all-time record. Some people praised him as the savior of the Five Shields Legion, dragging the team to 10 tournaments, but some people questioned his performance in the knockout rounds, who was right and who was wrong?

Tournament knockout round, 10 games 19 games 3 goals

To say that Ronaldo is the number one star in Portuguese history, there is no doubt that in addition to being the team's all-time appearance king and goalscorer king, before his debut, Portugal only participated in 3 World Cups, 3 European Cups, and did not win major tournaments; With him, Portugal has played in five World Cups and is about to play in their sixth European Championship, winning their first ever title in 2016 and the UEFA Nations League in 2019, although that is not a traditional tournament.

However, Ronaldo's performance in the national team competition, especially in the knockout stage, is really quite mediocre. Looking at the European Championship first, he scored 14 goals in 25 games and was the all-time top scorer, including 11 goals in 14 games in the group stage, but only scored 3 goals in 11 knockout games, plus 2 assists.

Looking at the World Cup again, it is even worse: 8 goals in 22 games, which is not much, and all of them were scored in 14 games in the group stage, 8 games in the knockout stage, and there were 0 goals and 0 assists, without any contribution!

That is to say, 5 European Cups, 5 World Cups, adding up to 10 tournament knockout rounds, Cristiano Ronaldo made 19 appearances and only scored 3 goals! He scored three goals in 2016 and scored only one in the semifinals, which he retired early due to injury.

In addition to 2016, at Euro 2004, Portugal finished runners-up, Cristiano Ronaldo fledgling, and scored in the semi-finals, but the final was muted. In the fourth place in the 2006 World Cup, he was invisible in the knockout round, and he had to rely on his big brothers Figo and Pauleta.

When Ronaldo becomes the core alone, the result is: Euro 2008 stopped in the quarterfinals, 2010 World Cup round of 16 out, 2012 European Cup penalty fell in the semifinals, 2014 World Cup group out, 2018 World Cup, 2020 European Cup are all round of 16, 2022 World Cup quarterfinals, and reduced to substitutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo's knockout round is not as good as Messi

So how did Messi perform in the knockout stages of the tournament? The 6 editions of the Copa America have a total of 13 goals in 34 games, including 8 goals in 18 group games and 5 goals in 16 knockout matches.

The 5 World Cups have a total of 13 goals in 26 games, including 8 goals in 14 group games and 5 goals in 12 knockout matches. In other words, Messi played a total of 28 knockout games in 11 major competitions, one less than Ronaldo, but scored 10 goals, far more than Ronaldo.

If you add assists, the gap between the two is even greater: Ronaldo is 3 goals and 2 assists, participating in 5 goals, Messi is 10 goals and 18 assists, participating in 28 goals!

Of course, some people will certainly say that the European Cup is more difficult and competitive than the Copa America, but the strength and number of stars of Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and other teams at their peak are actually not weaker than the European giants.

If it is fairer, just look at the World Cup, then it is reasonable for Messi to win and finally win the championship. And with Ronaldo's performance in the World Cup knockout stage, he did not hold the trophy, and there are indeed his own reasons.