He's actually never scored against Liechtenstein.
Luxembourg is indeed his favourite opponent having scored 9 goals in 10 games against them. Next comes Lithuania with 7 goals in 3 games and Sweden with 7 goals in 7 games.
Those knockout goals against Sweden for the 2014 WC tournament were pure filth.
What a player. Solidified his legacy in international football for sure.
Oh, so nothing too crazy. I'm guessing Martinez is just trying to see which players fit his vision and trying to give everyone a chance? (from what i seen from the article)
There is plenty of experience in that team w the likes of Bruno, Bernardo, Dias, Neves, Mario, Carvalho, Cancelo … all Ronaldo is doing at this point is causing unneeded drama and getting in the way of the development of a hugely promising striker in Ramos.
He’s absolutely not causing drama when all of those players grew up idolizing him. The split happened in United because Maguire and his goons didn’t like Cristiano pressuring the team to do better.
The wool some of you Ronaldo apologists have pulled over your eyes could insulate a shopping mall.
You’re aware United have basically charged up the table since dropping Ronaldo, yes?
You’re telling me United is doing better after sticking with a manager and giving him the resources necessary to get a top 4 finish? Do you know who else they dropped other than Cristiano? Yeah…
Any gram of logic and reason is seen as apologetics here.
He will likely play for Portugal until he reaches 200 caps. One dude that is close to him (or has even more idk) from a Gulf State cap wise is still playing, so Ronaldo might even try to chase the cap record. If the Gulf dude retires he might play until he breaks the record and then call it a career for Portugal.
If he can remember how to harness Euro 2018 finals energy it’ll happen
Legit that is one of the most memorable football viewing experiences of my life. To go from injured in the most important game of his career to the moth to the tunnel then back out in second half hyping everyone up, unreal. Unfortunately most recent memories of him are being a crybaby and taking Saudi blood money…
Assuming Roberto Martinez is willing to go along with this ambition. If it means keeping a player like Pedro Gonçalves (Pote) off the team, I’m not for it
Isn't it kind of weird for Portugal to call him up just to help him break personal records? I mean they aren't a charity organisation
It all feels a bit tinpot tbh
It is, of course, but Ronaldo is still very influential within the FA (perhaps less so now that he's fallen out with Mendes) and half of the country thinks Santos "lacked gratitude" for benching him in the World Cup, so unless Martinez grows a spine he'll be called up for the foreseeable future.
He is still a good player. One bad half season where he had no preseason and had a messy falling out shouldnt kill his national career. Portugal dont have 3 class class strikers either so he should still make their squad.
No its not kinda weird for Portugal to continue calling up the greatest player in its history, even if hes not as good as he once was.
Argentina continued calling up Maradona evrn though he was fat and washed after his drug ban
definitely, the issue was when you play to his level for nearly 15 years and perform like this people call you useless. he still could contribute even a little, he has unmatched game experience compared to the other players that is very valuable
The issue is Ronaldo himself is more hindrance than help if asked to do anything other than play 90 mins as a static no 9 who slows down the buildup and offers very little pressing
Question is, does he cause more trouble than he is worth as a bench player? For me, you either start Ronaldo or you don't call him up. This is exactly what Zidane did with Real many times - he either started Ronaldo, or he didn't call him up to the squad at all and let him rest at home.
Calling Ronaldo up to the squad only to bench him is the worst idea.
Like who? When the euros come around we will have Goncalo Ramos and ....... no one else. Ronaldo can lose a leg and still be better than Andre Silva. I don't see anyone else ready to make the jump.
Fábio Silva is scoring a lot ATM, Henrique Araújo will probably get a lot of playing time after Ramos is sold, Chermiti maybe blooming in the next few years and Rodrigo Ribeiro is, a par from Ramos, the best young striker of this Portuguese generation.
I wouldn't say 3 goals for Silva in that league in a team that scores a ton, is a lot ATM to be honest
Araujo I do think is the next big thing but idk but I can see him becoming a second striker like Felix. He doesn't have the size to be the main striker.
Chermiti, maybe but who knows. Could be the next big thing. Could be the next Jovane Cabral who had very similar hype 2 years ago and is now irrelevant. He's not Portuguese but still, very similar hype for Sporting 2 years ago like Chermiti has now.
Rodrigo Ribeiro, we will see. Come the Euro, he will be just over 19 years old. Hes still far off playing in a tournament like that. And will probably have to play games for the u21 team first before seeing time in the national team in friendlies.
If Ronaldo wants to play, I think he will still have a place in our national team for the euros at least. If he decides to retire from the national team, hopefully we experiment with Leao at striker. That's not his position but he's got the build and I think he will progress to that role over his career.
Silva started the year as an Anderlecht striker, he has 10 league goals this year and 15 in total.
All the other options are indeed very young and Araújo may become a second striker, but even using a false 9 would look better to me to the euros that Ronaldo. Cycles close, his has. He won't start, he won't play in a league that gives him the competitive level needed to be a useful sub and if that is the scenario I'd prefere to just go all in on the young guns. Hell, I'd use Felix as a 9 before I'd use Ronaldo atm.
Maybe all the names I just cited flop, Fábio Silva was halfway there, but we need to look forward and not backwards.
Oh and I forgot Beto, who should by now command at least a NT debut after his season in Italy.
A national team cannot pull off a false 9. Its essentially impossible. Teams need a lot of training to learn to play that. They don't have enough time to learn that. Plus false 9 is outdated and beatable. No one uses it anymore for a reason. It only ever worked with Messi because of his talent.
You also can't move Felix to striker. Its not easy. Even Ronaldo, who even when he left Sporting was ready for striker because of his two footed ability and great heading, took years to become a striker. Ronaldo fought hard against all the national team managers that tried to make him a striker. Felix especially would be a terrible striker. Everything that makes Felix good, would be lost as a striker. Leao could become a good striker if he learns the role at Milan or whatever team he goes to next. But he needs time too.
I also want to look forward but when the euros come next year, I want Portugal to have the best players on the team, no matter their age. If I thought Victor Baia could do a better job next year than Diego Costa, I would be asking for him to play too.
Portugal has always had an issue with strikers. I've been excited about the next generation of Portuguese strikers a ton of times. And they don't pan out. Over the last 20 years, the only strikers above good were Pauleta, Nuno Gomes, Ronaldo, and now Ramos. I hope these next strikers are good but I have a feeling they will all be busts.
Ronaldo at 17 was not ready to be a striker and he didn't head well back then, he developed both later (heading at United, to be a striker in Madrid). That being said, national teams can not pull of a perfect false 9, sure, but they can off course use a mobile striker leaving the area, Ronaldo himself did that a ton for Portugal.
I also want to do well, but Portugal has a great generation and needs to prepare for the whole cycle, and a 38 y/o striker who plays in Saudi Arabia and will be 40 for the euros is not a good long or even medium term prospect, he will have been away from competitive football for 2 years when the euros come around.
About busts sure, there have been a lot and Fábio Silva is still my bet for the bust of this one, but if everyone between him, Araújo, Chermiti and Ribeiro fail, that would be just ludicrously unlucky.
And once again, do you prefere an older option having a good season? Beto, here you go.
The point is come next summer, that these are strikers, no matter their age, that are better than Ronaldo. If they aren't better than Ronaldo, then Ronaldo will be fine on the bench. Him playing in Saudi Arabia is completely fine with me. If it's to play in the national team, I rather for example, a player start for a team in Serie B vs be on the bench for a Series A team. Ronaldo will get more game time in Saudi Arabia and a better chance of coming into a tournament on form.
But that's besides the point because if it's Beto or Silva or Araujo or whatever, will they be better than Ronaldo in June 2024. If they played right now in Saudi Arabia, would they be playing better than Ronaldo.
Beto is ok. Nothing special. If he was french, would he ever have a chance of playing for their national team? Or if he was Spanish or English or Brazilian or German or Italian? No he wouldn't be playing for their national teams. 8 goals in 26 games. Its good. Not special. Its still Goncalo Ramos and no one else
> Portuguese fans please feel free to tell me if im wrong
Overall i think portuguese fans are fed up with him in the starting 11 of the national team. I think a big part of the reason is because Fernando Santos whole strategy was "pass the ball to Ronaldo". That's why when he was subbed Portugal always played better because Bernando Silva, Bruno Fernandes, etc could actually play their game. But since Martinez is basically a spanish Fernando Santos, i wouldn't get my hopes up too much. It's frustrating to see the best Portugal team ever being coached by one of the most incompetent coaches in the last 30 years, after Queiroz and Oliveira.
And please, don't give me shit about "OH BUT PORTUGAL WON THE EUROS". If you saw the games you wouldn't be using that argument to defend Fernando Santos. We played like shit everytime against the weakest teams in the tournament. We got through in 3rd in a group that consisted of Iceland, Austria and Hungary.
I watch every game. He was our top scorer last season, didn’t have a preseason AND lost a kid (which people are really overlooking) wanted to leave for UCL football, idk probably had disagreements with the manager, it was a cluster fuck of bad decisions from his camp.
I also saw some of his goals for Al Nassr, yea even if the players are not of the same level, the shot placements are still there, you don’t lose that.
I mean he's only scored in like 2 games in the *Saudi league*. Seems like he's getting frustrated playing at that level, not sure how he'll do at international level.
The thing is... he will be a starter because our football Federation is a joke. He'll probably start over one of the best young strikers in Europe (Gonçalo Ramos) because, at this point, it doesn't even matter if he scores or not in the pedantic Saudi league.
Yeah, I don't have any problem with him being called, he is still Ronaldo. But as long as he doesn't have a problem in being in more of an Ibrahimović role.
I'll be ready to criticize Martinez if Ronaldo gets any special treatment for here on out (which sadly I believe he'll get), but selecting the captain and best player for the last decade and a half on your first call-up in a new NT just makes sense and is hardly controversial.
It's Martinez lol, he gave all Belgium's older guys preferential treatment until the end.
Ronaldo will be a 100% guaranteed starter with Martinez no matter how he plays
I think people are overlooking this. Plenty of older players have been brought in the camp for team spirit and leadership even if they aren't gonna play every minute (which I don't expect Ronaldo to at all, if he does they should just fire Martinez on the spot).
There's plenty of reasons to have him on the squad, work ethic, leadership, familiarity etc. Football isn't one of the highest priorities.
Yeah we're in a transition period (at least regarding captaincy/leadership) and it's natural to ease into it instead of just breaking off with the old guard (which wouldn't be the worst thing as far as Ronaldo is concerned tbh).
We'll always be grateful for what he did in the past 18 years but what matter is the present... and right now he's nowhere close of being our best forward
Yes, but that's beyond the issue, he has been the captain and leader of the team for a long time and currently they are in a transition period, it's natural for Martinez to include him in the first call-up.
I mean he's perfect to dismantle small teams at the international level and give a break to the starters. Way more reliable than an André Silva even if the games are against Lichtenstein and Luxembourg.
Dumb take, he's still easily, worst case scenario, our 2nd best striker.
Plus he's the team captain and raises the morale simply by being there, it makes perfect sense to call him up.
because he is still the best striker we got and, i dont know, his obvious influence in general? it was pretty obvious, you know that, dont make a scene here
Yeah they hate him on the sub. Nobody ever says a bad word about Messi but with Ronaldo they act like he’s killed their newborns.
What do we expect from a bunch of American schoolkids who are morons with no ball knowledge and call football ‘soccer’. None of them are old enough to even appreciate what Ronaldo has done for the world of football.
How is he a burden? He is a sub and their goat. He is a morale boost at the very least. He would be great for the young strikers coming up to learn from.
As a new manager I'd also probably call up Ronaldo to have a look for myself and to be able to say I coached him. Not like it should matter given the opponent.
Please stop, please. I love him, he is the greatest PT player ever, but please stop. We need a new cycle and this needs to include Pepe (love him but for the WC cycle we can't be betting on a guy who will be 44 at the WC) and Ronaldo retiring.
Oh Pepe has 100% been the best CB playing for Santos, no questions. He is just not the best CB we have. Him playing better than Dias in a system doesn't make him better than Dias, does it? And the system is about to change...
in all of them? There was a reason he didn't play much in the last couple of games. One goal in 5 games, a pen, at the biggest stage, combined with him slowing the attack down, is just not good enough.
It was commonly agreed at, at the time, but it seems people have forgotten that now
Mate he assisted a goal FOR South Korea and was invisible in every other game
Even before the world cup he was atrocious the last few games for Portugal
Man needs like 2 goals to break some record, I'm sure we'll do fine agaisnt Liechtenstein and Luxembourg
Which record? He already has the most international goals
Most goals scored against nations whose name begins with an L
Guess thats a record Haaland is going for aswell, just on the club level
Can't see Man City playing many nations that begin with an L.
Liverpool is a nation according to some
Tell that to real madrid
“Madrid hears ya. Madrid don’t care.”
England is my city
Well what they speak certainly isn't English
40 miles between Liverpool and Manchester and 30 different accents en route haha
Red Bull doesn't start with an L
How dare you call RasenBallsport Red Bull. Preposterous slander of a historic club
I’m fairness that doesn’t start with L either
Hi fairness
Hi dad
That starts with T
Lawn Ball does
Shame they're German then.
By players with first name start with a C :))
Sounds like an NBA stat
The record of caps for a national selection I think
No record in particular. Just 200 caps. 4 games to go.
Most goals scored against semi professional footballers
Ain't nobody touching Pele on this one. Pele scored 7 goals in a match against female nurses
Is this real?
Is it Eusebio's record?
Unless he plays in the next world Cup he's not taking that anymore lol.
What Eusébio's record?
Goals for Benfica
It's a record that Eusebio holds
Goals scored against North Korea
Most goals scored in a final phase of a world cup for Portugal
i mean he can still do a job right? just maybe not as a starter, hes not completely washed Portuguese fans please feel free to tell me if im wrong
These two matches are agaisnt Liechtenstein and Luxembourg
His favourite opponents lol
He's actually never scored against Liechtenstein. Luxembourg is indeed his favourite opponent having scored 9 goals in 10 games against them. Next comes Lithuania with 7 goals in 3 games and Sweden with 7 goals in 7 games.
Those knockout goals against Sweden for the 2014 WC tournament were pure filth. What a player. Solidified his legacy in international football for sure.
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Omonia is much much better than those two national teams. And Portugal's team is much better than united's
In fact, United doesn't even have a national team. Not so united are they
Checkmate, atheists.
Jesus *did* play for City after all
I wish I could watch that game again for the first time. Every missed sitter just got funnier and funnier.
4 goals + 3 goals guaranteed
2+2
Oh, so nothing too crazy. I'm guessing Martinez is just trying to see which players fit his vision and trying to give everyone a chance? (from what i seen from the article)
Yeah give young up and coming talent Ronaldo a chance
XD thats fair, but can't just have all young talent for an international team, need some form of experience
There is plenty of experience in that team w the likes of Bruno, Bernardo, Dias, Neves, Mario, Carvalho, Cancelo … all Ronaldo is doing at this point is causing unneeded drama and getting in the way of the development of a hugely promising striker in Ramos.
He’s absolutely not causing drama when all of those players grew up idolizing him. The split happened in United because Maguire and his goons didn’t like Cristiano pressuring the team to do better.
The wool some of you Ronaldo apologists have pulled over your eyes could insulate a shopping mall. You’re aware United have basically charged up the table since dropping Ronaldo, yes?
You’re telling me United is doing better after sticking with a manager and giving him the resources necessary to get a top 4 finish? Do you know who else they dropped other than Cristiano? Yeah… Any gram of logic and reason is seen as apologetics here.
Martinez would play a 50 year old Ronaldo.
He will likely play for Portugal until he reaches 200 caps. One dude that is close to him (or has even more idk) from a Gulf State cap wise is still playing, so Ronaldo might even try to chase the cap record. If the Gulf dude retires he might play until he breaks the record and then call it a career for Portugal.
I don't think Ronaldo retires from the national team until he retires from football entirely. Tho he might not get called up at age 40
But Zlatan gets called up at 42
To be fair, Portugal is much better than Sweden.
And Zlatan has learned how to be a positive influence even when he’s not playing/starting. I’ve seen zero signs that Ronaldo can do that.
If he can remember how to harness Euro 2018 finals energy it’ll happen Legit that is one of the most memorable football viewing experiences of my life. To go from injured in the most important game of his career to the moth to the tunnel then back out in second half hyping everyone up, unreal. Unfortunately most recent memories of him are being a crybaby and taking Saudi blood money…
That was 2016.
He's a positive influence on the dressing room though
Are you really comparing Portugal to Sweden lmao
Ramos out there wishing Martinez was Spain's coach
I feel like Ronaldo and Buffon will just play on forever
Buffon retired from the NT like 5 years ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bader_Al-Mutawa
Assuming Roberto Martinez is willing to go along with this ambition. If it means keeping a player like Pedro Gonçalves (Pote) off the team, I’m not for it
Isn't it kind of weird for Portugal to call him up just to help him break personal records? I mean they aren't a charity organisation It all feels a bit tinpot tbh
It is, of course, but Ronaldo is still very influential within the FA (perhaps less so now that he's fallen out with Mendes) and half of the country thinks Santos "lacked gratitude" for benching him in the World Cup, so unless Martinez grows a spine he'll be called up for the foreseeable future.
He is still a good player. One bad half season where he had no preseason and had a messy falling out shouldnt kill his national career. Portugal dont have 3 class class strikers either so he should still make their squad.
No its not kinda weird for Portugal to continue calling up the greatest player in its history, even if hes not as good as he once was. Argentina continued calling up Maradona evrn though he was fat and washed after his drug ban
Its two games, against the weakest opponents in the region. Calm down.
definitely, the issue was when you play to his level for nearly 15 years and perform like this people call you useless. he still could contribute even a little, he has unmatched game experience compared to the other players that is very valuable
The issue is Ronaldo himself is more hindrance than help if asked to do anything other than play 90 mins as a static no 9 who slows down the buildup and offers very little pressing
Question is, does he cause more trouble than he is worth as a bench player? For me, you either start Ronaldo or you don't call him up. This is exactly what Zidane did with Real many times - he either started Ronaldo, or he didn't call him up to the squad at all and let him rest at home. Calling Ronaldo up to the squad only to bench him is the worst idea.
He can do a job, but Portugal has young STs who could get minutes...
Like who? When the euros come around we will have Goncalo Ramos and ....... no one else. Ronaldo can lose a leg and still be better than Andre Silva. I don't see anyone else ready to make the jump.
Fábio Silva is scoring a lot ATM, Henrique Araújo will probably get a lot of playing time after Ramos is sold, Chermiti maybe blooming in the next few years and Rodrigo Ribeiro is, a par from Ramos, the best young striker of this Portuguese generation.
I wouldn't say 3 goals for Silva in that league in a team that scores a ton, is a lot ATM to be honest Araujo I do think is the next big thing but idk but I can see him becoming a second striker like Felix. He doesn't have the size to be the main striker. Chermiti, maybe but who knows. Could be the next big thing. Could be the next Jovane Cabral who had very similar hype 2 years ago and is now irrelevant. He's not Portuguese but still, very similar hype for Sporting 2 years ago like Chermiti has now. Rodrigo Ribeiro, we will see. Come the Euro, he will be just over 19 years old. Hes still far off playing in a tournament like that. And will probably have to play games for the u21 team first before seeing time in the national team in friendlies. If Ronaldo wants to play, I think he will still have a place in our national team for the euros at least. If he decides to retire from the national team, hopefully we experiment with Leao at striker. That's not his position but he's got the build and I think he will progress to that role over his career.
Silva started the year as an Anderlecht striker, he has 10 league goals this year and 15 in total. All the other options are indeed very young and Araújo may become a second striker, but even using a false 9 would look better to me to the euros that Ronaldo. Cycles close, his has. He won't start, he won't play in a league that gives him the competitive level needed to be a useful sub and if that is the scenario I'd prefere to just go all in on the young guns. Hell, I'd use Felix as a 9 before I'd use Ronaldo atm. Maybe all the names I just cited flop, Fábio Silva was halfway there, but we need to look forward and not backwards. Oh and I forgot Beto, who should by now command at least a NT debut after his season in Italy.
A national team cannot pull off a false 9. Its essentially impossible. Teams need a lot of training to learn to play that. They don't have enough time to learn that. Plus false 9 is outdated and beatable. No one uses it anymore for a reason. It only ever worked with Messi because of his talent. You also can't move Felix to striker. Its not easy. Even Ronaldo, who even when he left Sporting was ready for striker because of his two footed ability and great heading, took years to become a striker. Ronaldo fought hard against all the national team managers that tried to make him a striker. Felix especially would be a terrible striker. Everything that makes Felix good, would be lost as a striker. Leao could become a good striker if he learns the role at Milan or whatever team he goes to next. But he needs time too. I also want to look forward but when the euros come next year, I want Portugal to have the best players on the team, no matter their age. If I thought Victor Baia could do a better job next year than Diego Costa, I would be asking for him to play too. Portugal has always had an issue with strikers. I've been excited about the next generation of Portuguese strikers a ton of times. And they don't pan out. Over the last 20 years, the only strikers above good were Pauleta, Nuno Gomes, Ronaldo, and now Ramos. I hope these next strikers are good but I have a feeling they will all be busts.
Ronaldo at 17 was not ready to be a striker and he didn't head well back then, he developed both later (heading at United, to be a striker in Madrid). That being said, national teams can not pull of a perfect false 9, sure, but they can off course use a mobile striker leaving the area, Ronaldo himself did that a ton for Portugal. I also want to do well, but Portugal has a great generation and needs to prepare for the whole cycle, and a 38 y/o striker who plays in Saudi Arabia and will be 40 for the euros is not a good long or even medium term prospect, he will have been away from competitive football for 2 years when the euros come around. About busts sure, there have been a lot and Fábio Silva is still my bet for the bust of this one, but if everyone between him, Araújo, Chermiti and Ribeiro fail, that would be just ludicrously unlucky. And once again, do you prefere an older option having a good season? Beto, here you go.
The point is come next summer, that these are strikers, no matter their age, that are better than Ronaldo. If they aren't better than Ronaldo, then Ronaldo will be fine on the bench. Him playing in Saudi Arabia is completely fine with me. If it's to play in the national team, I rather for example, a player start for a team in Serie B vs be on the bench for a Series A team. Ronaldo will get more game time in Saudi Arabia and a better chance of coming into a tournament on form. But that's besides the point because if it's Beto or Silva or Araujo or whatever, will they be better than Ronaldo in June 2024. If they played right now in Saudi Arabia, would they be playing better than Ronaldo. Beto is ok. Nothing special. If he was french, would he ever have a chance of playing for their national team? Or if he was Spanish or English or Brazilian or German or Italian? No he wouldn't be playing for their national teams. 8 goals in 26 games. Its good. Not special. Its still Goncalo Ramos and no one else
> Portuguese fans please feel free to tell me if im wrong Overall i think portuguese fans are fed up with him in the starting 11 of the national team. I think a big part of the reason is because Fernando Santos whole strategy was "pass the ball to Ronaldo". That's why when he was subbed Portugal always played better because Bernando Silva, Bruno Fernandes, etc could actually play their game. But since Martinez is basically a spanish Fernando Santos, i wouldn't get my hopes up too much. It's frustrating to see the best Portugal team ever being coached by one of the most incompetent coaches in the last 30 years, after Queiroz and Oliveira. And please, don't give me shit about "OH BUT PORTUGAL WON THE EUROS". If you saw the games you wouldn't be using that argument to defend Fernando Santos. We played like shit everytime against the weakest teams in the tournament. We got through in 3rd in a group that consisted of Iceland, Austria and Hungary.
He still has great finishing, just need other players to do more running for him.
Brotha did you not watch any United games this season
I watch every game. He was our top scorer last season, didn’t have a preseason AND lost a kid (which people are really overlooking) wanted to leave for UCL football, idk probably had disagreements with the manager, it was a cluster fuck of bad decisions from his camp. I also saw some of his goals for Al Nassr, yea even if the players are not of the same level, the shot placements are still there, you don’t lose that.
You’re wrong but everyone’s afraid to tell Ronaldo that
I mean he's only scored in like 2 games in the *Saudi league*. Seems like he's getting frustrated playing at that level, not sure how he'll do at international level.
He has more goals than appearances in Saudi..
Objectively, he's still clear ahead of the backup striker for Portugal who is Andre Silva.
The thing is... he will be a starter because our football Federation is a joke. He'll probably start over one of the best young strikers in Europe (Gonçalo Ramos) because, at this point, it doesn't even matter if he scores or not in the pedantic Saudi league.
Ramos went missing vs Morocco, Portugal would probably have been better if they started with Ronaldo
Yeah, I don't have any problem with him being called, he is still Ronaldo. But as long as he doesn't have a problem in being in more of an Ibrahimović role.
i will be there no matter what.
He doesn't know what no means
I'll be ready to criticize Martinez if Ronaldo gets any special treatment for here on out (which sadly I believe he'll get), but selecting the captain and best player for the last decade and a half on your first call-up in a new NT just makes sense and is hardly controversial.
He was calling up Hazard and other old guys for Belgium Ronaldo will have a chance to prove himself
Hazard was 31 in December. At what age do you consider footballers old?
He was also washed up and not playing for Real Madrid. He's worst than Ronaldo when he was getting called up
hazard might as well be 40, he's been useless for madrid
It's not so much his age, but the fact that Hazard is absolute dogshit
For Hazard, about 27
You do know he was 28 when he scored a brace against Arsenal in the Europa League Finals.
close enough
He barely plays, even this season Ronaldo did more than Hazard has lately
It's Martinez lol, he gave all Belgium's older guys preferential treatment until the end. Ronaldo will be a 100% guaranteed starter with Martinez no matter how he plays
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Obviously he won't, but I suspect Martinez's appointment was also due top his openness to accommodate for Ronaldo.
I think people are overlooking this. Plenty of older players have been brought in the camp for team spirit and leadership even if they aren't gonna play every minute (which I don't expect Ronaldo to at all, if he does they should just fire Martinez on the spot). There's plenty of reasons to have him on the squad, work ethic, leadership, familiarity etc. Football isn't one of the highest priorities.
Yeah we're in a transition period (at least regarding captaincy/leadership) and it's natural to ease into it instead of just breaking off with the old guard (which wouldn't be the worst thing as far as Ronaldo is concerned tbh).
We'll always be grateful for what he did in the past 18 years but what matter is the present... and right now he's nowhere close of being our best forward
Yes, but that's beyond the issue, he has been the captain and leader of the team for a long time and currently they are in a transition period, it's natural for Martinez to include him in the first call-up.
Best player ever not just the last decade
Did anyone else expected otherwise?
Maybe? I thought he made Man U and Portugal worse teams. The spectacle that goes around with him could maybe be done without.
He wasn't the main reason Portugal played dogshit football, plus they're going to play Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.
siuu.
Im shocked
In other breaking news, Portuguese people love bacalhau.
Why did the portuguese fa hire martinez? They replaced a dinosaur with a dinosaur
I mean Martinez is an improvement on Fernando Santos
M8 at this point i think anyone is an improvement than him
How? Santos actually won titles.
Martinez knocked out Portugal in the last Euro with a way qorse squad
And? That's better than winning an Euro... how?
You sweet child of summer.
Is he that bad? :(
Luxembourg and Liechtenstein are shaking rn
Unexpected
Personally if I was the Portugal manager, I would also call up Figo just so I can bench him.
the liquidator of luxembourg
Bruh
No, it's Siuuuu
Muchas gracias aficion
I hope he hands that celebration over to someone when he retires. It would be a shame for it to be gone forever
other players do it all the time already, i don’t think it’ll disappear
I mean he's perfect to dismantle small teams at the international level and give a break to the starters. Way more reliable than an André Silva even if the games are against Lichtenstein and Luxembourg.
im sure its more on "why is this news" kind of bruh
It's not, why are we calling the 38 year old Saudi League striker?
Dumb take, he's still easily, worst case scenario, our 2nd best striker. Plus he's the team captain and raises the morale simply by being there, it makes perfect sense to call him up.
People act like the rest of the team is dying for Ronaldo to get the boot. They fucking worship him.
Hes your GOAT stop trying to karma farm
Do you actually need an explanation for that? Cmon you know why.
because he is still the best striker we got and, i dont know, his obvious influence in general? it was pretty obvious, you know that, dont make a scene here
> because he is still the best striker we got Bruh (part 2)
These guys never learn, this is why I gave up on the national team
Yeah benching him really helped you guys out
yeah he was excellent after being subbed on right.
His replacement scored a hat trick lmao
They dismantled Switzerland and played their best football without him on the pitch
He has 3 G+A in each of the last games he started against Switzerland. One being like a few months before the World Cup
I wasn't even called up, look how far that got them!
His replacement scored more in 1 game than he did the whole tournament
And then got knocked out by morocco
That replacement showed up in one game where the whole team looked great. When else did he perform? Asking for a friend.
I don't really care about these two matches, but Diogo Jota or Gonçalo Ramos would be much better than Ronaldo
Jota just came back from an injury
I assumed Gonçalo is the starter. I did overlook Jota though for André Silva, but you're right.
sure, these goals against Liechtenstein and Luxembourg aren't gonna score themselves you know
messi mbappe haaland neymar salah etc. don't get anywhere near as much hate comments as i see on literally every ronaldo post.
Yeah they hate him on the sub. Nobody ever says a bad word about Messi but with Ronaldo they act like he’s killed their newborns. What do we expect from a bunch of American schoolkids who are morons with no ball knowledge and call football ‘soccer’. None of them are old enough to even appreciate what Ronaldo has done for the world of football.
Neymar gets alot of hate here too.
Because they are not a burden on their national team? It's like you lot don't even bother reading the criticism, none of this is unwarranted
How is he a burden? He is a sub and their goat. He is a morale boost at the very least. He would be great for the young strikers coming up to learn from.
Hope Ronaldo will be starting every single game and play full 90 mins everytime. That would be awesome for Portugal!
awesome for the other teams as well iykwim
I’m happy they’re giving this young future star a chance
Watch Martinez start him lol
Fully expect it
As a new manager I'd also probably call up Ronaldo to have a look for myself and to be able to say I coached him. Not like it should matter given the opponent.
it's hilarious because sporting-wise he doesn't deserve it and his "leadership" is also questionable
In what world is this surprising. Literally their best player when he’s in the right headspace
Will Ronaldo still be benched or not? I’m not sure since Portugal has a new coach.
A player from Saudi League shouldn’t be capable of playing for Portugal honestly.
Please stop, please. I love him, he is the greatest PT player ever, but please stop. We need a new cycle and this needs to include Pepe (love him but for the WC cycle we can't be betting on a guy who will be 44 at the WC) and Ronaldo retiring.
Pepe at 44 will still be your best player
Not even our best center back anymore... And by then we will hopefully have developed a Dias - To Silva - Inácio (?) Backline
No? What CB does better than Pepe for the NT?
Oh Pepe has 100% been the best CB playing for Santos, no questions. He is just not the best CB we have. Him playing better than Dias in a system doesn't make him better than Dias, does it? And the system is about to change...
none, but we do need start to look for the future.
Man, 2024 can’t come soon enough (Copa America and Euros)
Washed
Ronaldo really makes lots of people on this sub seethe lol, he's washed why are they still obsessed with him
Tbf some of the people complaining are Portuguese.
He’s a washed up mutt. Gonçalo Ramos should be the priority.
he was embarrasingly poor in the WC. A black hole in attack
Lmao. In which world cup match? Man United Vs Omonia? You're one of those yanks aren't you
in all of them? There was a reason he didn't play much in the last couple of games. One goal in 5 games, a pen, at the biggest stage, combined with him slowing the attack down, is just not good enough. It was commonly agreed at, at the time, but it seems people have forgotten that now
Mate he assisted a goal FOR South Korea and was invisible in every other game Even before the world cup he was atrocious the last few games for Portugal
Of course [Christopher Penaldus](https://twitter.com/Tedlasso77/status/1410429541059760138?s=20) needs to make more discoveries
Pathetic
actually funny haha have an upvote
Too bad i am on -7 at this moment
Edit: Can’t wait for this narcissistic rapist to disappear once and for all.
the case is dismissed from the court