Football News: Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal’s Psychodrama at Euro 2024
As the legends of the game begin to fade, the eternal human battle with mortality becomes a captivating narrative. The diminution of Cristiano Ronaldo’s powers has become the great psychodrama of Portuguese football at Euro 2024.
In Portugal’s nail-biting penalty shootout victory over Turkey, the focus was, as always, on Ronaldo. Even when Diogo Costa saved three penalties in the shootout, the spotlight remained on the aging superstar. Ronaldo’s missed penalty in extra time, which left him in tears, was ultimately made up for in the shootout, but the sense was that this was all about him.
This trend has continued throughout Portugal’s campaign. Even when Gonçalo Ramos scored a hat-trick against Switzerland at the last World Cup, the impression was that he was simply a supporting actor, there to replace the iconic Ronaldo, whose name was bellowed by the crowd until he was finally brought on.
Ronaldo’s skills may be fading, but his desire to extend his records remains undiminished.
His pass to set up Bruno Fernandes was uncharacteristic, yet it made him the most prolific assist provider in European Championship history, a fact that suddenly made sense in the context of his quest for individual accolades.
The crowd’s reaction to Ronaldo’s flick to Rafael Leão was tumultuous, as they had come to see the celebrity worship rather than the pure pursuit of victory. In this world, the winning of matches is a secondary concern, and Ronaldo’s repertoire of gestures and expressions has become the main attraction.
As Ronaldo’s talent fades, the question arises whether Roberto Martínez can continue to pick a player so out of sorts, whose mere presence causes imbalances in the team. Yet, in the context of Portugal and Ronaldo, the aging superstar will undoubtedly start against France in the quarter-final.
The dilemma facing Portugal’s management is whether they should sacrifice real opportunities to win tournaments in order to cater to the ego of a fading star, no matter how great he once was. The hordes of gifted attacking players in the squad may be relegated to bit-part players in the Ronaldo show, a decision that seems indefensible.
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