Dortmund, Germany.- As expected, Cristiano Ronaldo has been the center of attention at the European Championship.
But not in the way he would have liked.
The Portuguese star, who has 632 million followers on Instagram and has countless sponsorships, has had to deal with a series of pitch invaders looking for a selfie with him during training and matches. One fan even jumped from the stands into the players’ tunnel, leaving Cristiano stunned as he headed to the locker room after the match against Georgia.
He has yelled at a referee (which led to a yellow card), thrown a water bottle and exploded on the bench. He also has 12 shots on goal, more than anyone at Euro 2024.
What he hasn’t been able to do is score — and that’s the currency he plays with, at least in football.
OK, there was that moment when he missed a golden scoring opportunity and instead passed the ball to Bruno Fernandes for Portugal’s third goal in their 3-0 win over Turkey.
But Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 years old, and those spectacular moments are becoming less frequent, especially when it comes to major tournaments and against the best defenses.
With the latter, he went seven consecutive games without scoring in a major tournament with his national team, including the 2022 World Cup and the European Championship. For the first time in his 21-year career with the national team, which includes five World Cups and six European Championships, he finished a group stage without scoring.
The question now ahead of the last-16 stage is whether the constant drama surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo will be a distraction for a Portugal side attempting to win their first major title eight years after they won Euro 2016.
Coach Roberto Martínez doesn’t believe it.
The coach is loyal to Cristiano and demonstrated this with his reaction to the forward’s assist against Turkey.
“It should be taught in all academies in Portugal and the world,” Martínez assured.
The day before, he had an exchange of words with a journalist who questioned whether Cristiano could handle the intensity of the tournament at 39 years old.
Before the Euro, Martinez praised his player by saying that he “faces each day in a different way to be the best” and that his statistics “are better than anything they can say.”
Perhaps to justify his arguments – or even to keep Cristiano Ronaldo happy – Martinez included him in the starting line-up against Georgia despite giving other key players a rest in a match of little importance to Portugal, which had already qualified.
Cristiano Ronaldo maintains his passion and desire. He remains a prolific goalscorer, especially against weaker opponents, even when his mobility is not at its highest level. It would not be a surprise if the international – who has 130 goals – gets minutes against Slovenia.
Another story is whether being constantly selected is beneficial for Portugal.
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