Ronaldo-less Portugal faces cloudy future
Print Edition
Portugal coach Fernando Santos spent the World Cup denying his team was only about Cristiano Ronaldo, but he will leave Russia with even more doubts about the future of the European champion once its talismanic forward decides to hang up his boots.
Ronaldo’s hat-trick in a thrilling 3-3 opening draw against Spain helped light the competition up, but after that he netted just one goal, in the side’s 1-0 victory over Morocco.
He failed to breach Iran’s gritty defense in a 1-1 draw where Portugal suffered some nervous stoppage-time minutes during which the Asian powerhouse could have eliminated it at the group stage.
On Saturday, the Euro 2016 winner failed to find a way out of its problems, with Ronaldo largely ineffective against Uruguay’s well-organized defense and close man-marking, and he appeared frustrated with the lack of delivery from midfield.
Santos had bristled at a question about the team’s dependence on Ronaldo before Saturday’s match, brushing it off with a wry joke.
“I just got another free coffee because I bet on this question! I get the coffee. Thank you for the question,” he told a news conference.
Captain Ronaldo played a pivotal role in France during Portugal’s triumphant campaign two years ago, and in Russia he became Europe’s top international goal-scorer and only second in the world to Iran’s Ali Daei.
But his own strong form has not put an end to Portugal’s scoring problems, mirroring its Euro 2016 run where it drew all its group games and had less possession than its opponents in all of its knockout matches.
And against Uruguay, Portugal managed 61 percent ball possession. Its midfield dominance, however, proved insufficient.
The proven marksman Ronaldo was understandably given no space by Uruguay’s defense, and he hardly got a touch in the opposition box in the first half. Portugal had no Plan B to fall back on to answer Edinson Cavani’s strikes on either side of Pepe’s headed goal in the 55th minute.
It was little surprise, therefore, that Santos urged the Real Madrid forward to keep playing for the national side.
Ronaldo himself was non-committal about his future. “It’s not the time to talk about the future when it comes to the players and coach,” he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
