After the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the "Golden Generation" represented by Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Paul Sousa and Vitor Baya began to withdraw from the national team. The captain torch of the Blood Battleship gradually began to hand over the baton after euro 2008 to Cristiano Ronaldo, who was still known as "Little Luo".
With the rise of the "Golden Generation", Portuguese football ushered in the peak of the "Eusebio" era after the new century, and reached the runner-up at the 2004 European Championship and the 2006 World Cup. For the younger generation, keeping Portugal's performance stable after the end of the "Golden Generation" is already the biggest goal.
Friends who know the history of modern football should agree that the Portuguese national team is actually a strong team that has risen rapidly after the 21st century. In terms of the output and training of talents, there is a clear gap between Portugal and other traditional European giants. In the long 20th century, Portugal only scored two World Cup matches, and these two times were 20 years apart. In terms of the European Championship, Portugal in the 20th century has only qualified for the European Championship three times, with the best result being the final four.
Entering the era of Ronaldo, Portugal has not missed the World Cup, and the best result is the round of 16. In terms of the European Championships, Portugal has created a great surprise for the fans. In the three European Championships from 2008 to 2016, Portugal won the quarter-finals, the final four and the championship.
Individuals and teams must be mutually accomplished. If you want to go far, even the best core players must lead the team to go far, and they cannot do without the support of the rest of their teammates. In addition to making a difference on the field, a great leader can make the team better and thus break through the upper limit of strength on paper.
As for whether C Ronaldo has done this? Who are the best national team helpers of his career? In this article, the author will synthesize the strength and fame of the players to select the TOP10 list for your reference.
10. Rui Patricio
Portugal is not a footballing country with strong goalkeepers, and there are only a few goalkeepers who come into the room. Among the goalkeepers that Ronaldo has matched with the national team, Patricio is already the most outstanding one.
Patricio debuted at Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese Premier League and currently plays for Wolves in the Premier League. After becoming famous at Sporting Lisbon, Patricio stayed in the Portuguese Premier League, where he won twice the best goalkeeper of the Portuguese Premier League. In 2018, Patricio left his long-time home team Sporting Lisbon to join Wolves in the Premier League. In recent years, Wolves' results have steadily improved, promoted to European regulars, and Patricio's performance is obvious to all.
For the national team, Patricio was called up for the first time in 2010. However, it was not until Euro 2012 that Patricio was able to sit firmly at the national level. At Euro 2012 & 2014 World Cup, Patricio paid enough tuition for the national goal, because of repeated position errors & prediction errors, which made him repeatedly nailed to the criticism wall by the media. At Euro 2016, Patricio was the main contributor to Portugal's victory. Whether it was a sports battle or a penalty shootout, Patricio's performance was extremely solid, and he finally managed to be among the best squads in the tournament.
IX. Coentrand
Coentrand, nicknamed golden retriever.
For the player of Coentran, I believe that fans and friends will not feel strange.
Coentrand debuted in the Portuguese Super League Leo Evi, becoming famous in the Portuguese Super League Benfica. In 2011, Coentrand joined La Liga giants Real Madrid for 30 million euros. Due to the loss of the absolute speed of fame after the injury, coupled with Marcelo's rapid rise, Coentrand's real Madrid journey was not smooth, and the star path gradually dimmed. However, there is no denying that Coentrand is still the most impressive and excellent flygate in Portugal in recent years. For the national team, as a left-back, Coentrand played in the 2010 World Cup & Euro 2012. In those two tournaments, Coentrand alone carried the attack and defense on the left side, and was portugal's best performer, probably not one.
VIII. Bruno Alves
Bruno Alves, the most overlooked leafy player in the Portuguese national team over the past decade. During his career, Bruno Alves played for several teams, including Porto, Fenerbahce, Parma and Zenit St. Petersburg.
Bruno Alves is a tough defender with a championship edge. During his club career, he won league titles in many places. In terms of position, in addition to playing center-back, Alves can make a cameo at full-back. Bruno Alves' physical fitness is excellent, card slots, steals, air defense are quite good.
In terms of national team career, Bruno Alves has been selected for the national team since 2008 and has played as a starting centre-back since 2010. For the impression of this player, fans and friends will mostly think of the match between Portugal and Spain in the semi-final of Euro 2012. Alves performed well in the time required, but in the penalty shootout, he missed the fourth penalty, resulting in a direct defeat for Portugal, and Ronaldo, as the fifth penalty player, did not have a chance to play.
Since then, Bruno Alves' position has been replaced by José Fonte, reduced to a bench player. It wasn't until Euro 2016 that the tough guy completed his self-redemption. In the semi-final against Wales, Alves was tasked with replacing the suspended Pepe, eventually helping Portugal to successfully knock down their opponents.
VII. Ricardo Carvalho
During his career, Carvalho played for Many well-known teams such as Porto in the Portuguese Premier League, Chelsea in the Premier League, Real Madrid in La Liga, Monaco in the Ligue 1, and Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League.
Carvalho, plays as a centre-back. In terms of playing style, Carvalho is one of the rare players who can still see the legacy of the scavenger on his body after the new century. In addition to being good at intercepting and enveloping, Carvallo has the ability to take on the talent of leading the ball and instigating counterattacks under specific tactics.
Judging from the resume, it is enough to know that the lower limit of this benevolent brother's strength is definitely not low. From the Porto period, the Chelsea period, and then to the Real Madrid period, Carvalho has been the favorite of his mentor Jose Mourinho.
In terms of age, Carvalho is a player between the Golden Generation and the New Generation. However, from the perspective of the age of the national team, Carvalho is the same age as C Ronaldo who began to be selected for the national team. Since 2003, Carvalho has been a regular for the Portuguese national team. However, between 2012 and 2014, Carvalho withdrew from the Portuguese national team at one point due to dissatisfaction with the tactical arrangements of then-coach Paul Bento, missing two major tournaments at Euro 2012 & 2014 World Cup.
In October 2014, after Paul Bento left school, the then 36-year-old Carvalho returned to the Portuguese national team as the starting centre-back. Carvalho is certainly not old, but from the side, it can actually reflect that the iteration speed of Portugal's backline talent is relatively slow.
In the qualifying stages of Euro 2016, Carvalho performed very well, breaking the record for the oldest goalscorer in Portuguese history. Coming to the final round, Carvalho won three starts in the group stage, and the performance was not lost. After moving into the knockout stage, Portugal made a squad adjustment and Carvalho was never placed to play again. In the final competition for the Portuguese national team, Carvalho burned out the last heat and brought his national team career to a successful end.
6. Deco
As a player who has won the Champions League as the main player in two different teams, and the player who has reached the second highest place in the Annual Ballon d'Or, portugal's famous Deco is undoubtedly strong. In his career, Deco has been teammates with two superstars such as Messi and C Ronaldo.
Decaux is from Brazil and, to some extent, a foreigner for the Portuguese national team. Since Deco joined the Portuguese national team, the fierce competition between him and Rui Costa has inevitably begun. It wasn't until the start of Euro 2004 that Decaux became Portugal's chief midfielder. From the perspective of age and resume, Deco is C Ronaldo's predecessor in the national team, participating in and witnessing the process of C Ronaldo from a national team rookie to the core of the national team. It wasn't until after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa that Decaux retired from the Portuguese national team.
From a team point of view, Deco was a strong teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo in the early days of the [post-Figo era]; however, from a competitive point of view, Deco was also a strong opponent in the national team status with Ronaldo for a certain period of time.
V. Eder
Edelzito Antonio Macedo López, abbreviated: Eder.
Tall forward, Eder has a good set of catching and adjusting movements, and his shooting skills are also of a certain level. It is precisely this characteristic that has given it the capital to mix with the midstream teams in the five major leagues for many years. In his national team career, Eder made 33 appearances, scoring only 4 goals, and his results were not outstanding.
In terms of fame, A-Silva, Adlino, Reina Sanchez, Rafa, Mario and a bunch of other Portuguese internationals are undoubtedly above this person. However, just one key goal is enough to send Eder into the list of heroes in the history of Portuguese football.
Before euro 2016, I believe that not many fans will be particularly impressed by this Portuguese striker. Before the tournament started, Eder played for Ligue 1 club Lille, where the efficiency of goals was average that season. With Portugal's lack of a high-quality high striker, Eder caught the last train of the big list. The decision to recruit Eder turned out to be entirely correct.
In the UEFA Euro 2016 final, Portugal played against hosts France. Less than 25 minutes into the opening, C Luo retired injured and had to watch from the sidelines. Throughout the game, Portugal were passively beaten and defended at a speed, with goalkeeper Rui Patricio making seven key saves to keep the goal.
In the 79th minute, Eder came on in place of Renato Sanchez in the 79th minute. In extra time, in the 109th minute, Moutinho sent a precise straight plug on the left rib, Eder took the ball and cut in, 25 meters from the goal, with a low and angry shot to break the deadlock. With this goal, Portugal won the European Championship for the first time. As we all know, this hard-won European Championship championship is extremely important for Ronaldo's career and reputation.
Fourth, Nani
At the age of 28, Nani returned from Manchester United to his home team, Sporting Lisbon. Since then, Nani has moved to Fenerbahce, Valencia, Lazio and other clubs. Currently, Nani is playing for retirement at Major League Soccer's Orlando City Club.
Behind the figure of C Luo, Nani, who also enjoyed the name of "genius" at the beginning of his debut, has been struggling to follow, but the gap is getting bigger and bigger. Although he has lived in the shadow of C Luo for a long time, nani actually has a very good friendship with C Luo. On the occasion of leaving Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo repeatedly recommended Nani to Ferguson. During the national team, the cooperation between the two was very pleasant, and Nani was a big fan of Ronaldo.
Compared to di Maria's level of flying wings, Nani is indeed inferior. However, in his national team career, Nani handed over a 24-goal report card in 112 games, which is enough to prove Nani's good contribution.
Iii. Ricardo Quaresma
Quaresma, nicknamed the Mustang, is a Portuguese winger.
He was a year older than Cristiano Ronaldo, and the two were basically Portuguese rising stars who began to become famous at the same time.
During his career, Quaresma played for Atlético Desportos, Barcelona, Porto, Inter, Chelsea, Besiktas and many other well-known teams. As a talented player with high hopes, Quaresma did not meet the qualified value expected. However, when he is about to be forgotten by the public, he will always briefly hand over the rejuvenation performance and re-brush a wave of existence.
Grumpy and unstable is a bad label for Quaresma, while being able to perform the characteristics of the left and right wings and having a soul-destroying instep skill is the capital on which Quaresma depends for survival.
In 2003, Quaresma was selected for the Portuguese national team for the first time. In terms of national team career, Quaresma has a long fifteen-year career, with a total of 80 appearances and 10 goals. During this period, Quaresma's position fluctuated several times. At Euro 2016, Quares Matthew achieved positive results. In this tournament, Quaresma played for Portugal in all 7 matches, scoring 1 goal and assisting 1 time. In the final, the player who replaced Ronaldo was Quaresma.
In the 2018 World Cup, Quaresma traveled with the team. In the final round of the group stage against Iran, Quaresma scored a signature out-of-the-foot shot. As a gypsy, Quaresma, it is in such a casual and free way that he left a heroic posture for the fans on the big stage for the last time.
Second, Pepe
Like Carvalho and other defenders, Pepe debuted at Porto FC. However, in terms of fame, [martial monk] Pepe is obviously beyond them. Since being selected for Portugal in 2007, Pepe has played a total of 107 games and scored seven goals.
Like Deco, Pepe was a Brazilian who chose to join the Portuguese national team. At Real Madrid, Pepe spent a decade. If measured by his performance and length of time in the absolute giants, Pepe should be the best helper in Ronaldo's national team career.
However, in Portugal's World Cup final tour, Pepe is almost a credit. In the 2010 World Cup finals, Pepe did not recover from injury, coupled with the temporary adjustment of Queiroz to an unfamiliar defensive back position, so he did nothing in the event, like sleepwalking. In the 2014 World Cup, in the first game of the group stage, Pepe did not calmly put mueller on his head, and he also received a red card and led to a 0-4 defeat for the team. In the end, Portugal was out of the group stage, and Pepe naturally became a "sinner" who was crusaded by the Portuguese media. However, fortunately, in the 2016 European Championship & 2018 World Cup, Pepe's performance was remarkable, and he found some word of mouth.
First, João Moutinho
During his career, João Moutinho played for Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese Premier League, Porto in the Portuguese Premier League, Monaco in the Ligue 1 and is now playing for Wolves in the Premier League. After Rui Costa & Decaux, João Moutinho is Portugal's most impressive midfielder.
In both the front and back positions, João Moutinho can play to his strengths. The overall physical fitness is mediocre and the confrontation ability is average, but Moutinho wins in terms of technical delicacy and positive defensive attitude. In terms of club highlights, perhaps the young Bruno Fernandez has overpowered this predecessor, but if he catches up with Moutinho in the history of the Portuguese team, B Fee still has a very long way to go.
In terms of the number of appearances for the national team, Moutinho made a total of 113 appearances, ranking third in team history. The two Golden Ball-level kings in front of him are none other than C Ronaldo & Figo. In 2005, Moutinho was selected for the national team for the first time. In 2012, Moutinho began to become the midfielder's true core.
If Cristiano Ronaldo is the team's sharp knife, then Moutinho is the team's offensive and defensive metronome. In the national team competition, the two-person connection between C Ronaldo and Moutinho after the heart-to-heart meeting is a threatening offensive weapon for Portugal.
For a long time, this small no. 10 player was the number two man in the Portuguese national team. Back in the 2016 Euro 2016 final, it was Moutinho who delivered a brilliant assist to Eder in extra time, and Portugal finally won the big game for the first time. The best partner in Cristiano Ronaldo's national team career is none other than João Moutinho.