Ronaldo, the new luxury joker?

Thomas Sinicki, Media365: Published on Monday, September 9, 2024 at 9:01 AM.

Cristiano Ronaldo's future in the national team will likely include a re-evaluation of his situation.

At times, Cristiano Ronaldo has completely escaped, having not played for Portugal since the 2022 World Cup and losing in the quarter-finals to Morocco (0-1), where he played almost the entire second half. This time, against Scotland (2-1) on Sunday, he showed well upon his return from the locker room and scored the decisive goal for the Seleção in the 88th minute. In total, this is only the 16th time in his career out of 214 international matches that he has appeared as a substitute, Or 7% of his international matches over 21 years (the first in August 2003).

Silva: “He will continue until the 1000th”

Roberto Martinez is very clear about his 39-year-old captain: “We are in September, he has played three matches and scored three goals for his club… We must protect all the players, he cannot play two 90-minute matches.” If he is going to be on the field, the important thing is that he finished, not that he started.” It is difficult to prove the Spanish coach wrong, and perhaps this path of luxury joker should be explored a little deeper… “I really liked his commitment, he is ready to do what the team needs And be decisive. “He's a good player. An unbelievable player and there's nothing like him. It's not an addiction but it's an advantage. He's very important in front of goal, but I won't talk about that.” Football Diversity While after the Euros, no one imagined a future for Portugal with an aging Cristiano Ronaldo…

In turn, Bruno Fernandes, the author of the equalizer, emphasizes the influence of the country's symbol “always, whether as a starter or as a substitute” (per RTP): “As the coach said, everyone had a big impact on the match, but he scored his 900th goal three days ago, It is the 901st goal and will continue until the 1000th. Against Croatia on Thursday (2-1), Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th goal in his career, and his 131st goal with the national team.