Do Portugal really play well without their star man?

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(Edited)

The World Cup is about wrapping up as we head into the final 8. Yesterday Morocco beat Spain at penalties to book their spot in the final 8. I can’t say I saw it coming because I actually didn’t expect them to win but I’m glad they did, at least we still have an African country at the World Cup. Portugal also run riot against Switzerland yesterday night by beating them a mammoth 6 goals to 1. Before the game had even started there was a debate on as to whether Ronaldo should be stated or not. Some fans taught they would play better without their star man whiles others thought otherwise. Apparently the coach, Santos wasn’t happy with his gestures when we was towards the one of the Korean players when he was substituted.

So when the starting eleven was announced we all noticed the absence of the Portuguese captain along with a few other changes. Fast forward a few hours later, Ronaldo’s replacement scored the first hat trick of the tournament, which was also his first ever hat trick in the world competition. This brings us to the topic, do Portugal really play well without Ronaldo?….. I know some of you would be Saying you can’t judge or I shouldn’t be saying this based on yesterday’s game. But com’n this isn’t the first time Ronaldo was on the bench and his team Performed marvelously.


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When you watch games that Ronaldo starts with Portugal, the attention is always on him. I don’t know if you get me. What I mean to say is everyone is always trying to feed him the ball and don’t get me wrong he is still one of the best goal poachers ever. But sometimes you see players trying to pass the ball to him when he seems in a very tight position instead of giving it to a closer teammate or just trying it himself they end up giving a faulty pass to him.

So when he is not around, I feel like the players are free to do what they want, without having to look over their shoulders to see if he is there hence they pass the ball freely and they end up scoring more goals. Another thing you would notice is goals would come from different players about 3 or more different players.

But can you play a match without playing a player who can score when you really need it?. It’s just like going to quiz competition without your A+ student. So starting or not starting him it’s kind of difficult to answer people have different opinions, whatever the opinion is we all have facts to support our sayings.

Another thing I would like to hammer on is the behavior of Ronaldo off the pitch. For a player of his caliber I don’t think he should be doing those things. After the game yesterday, when his teammates stayed celebrated with the fans, Ronaldo just celebrated for about less than a minute and headed back into the tunnel. I think he should have a while celebrate with the fans. Who knows maybe he needed to use the toilet. He is Ronaldo and every camera is on him, any little thing gets published.


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I would love to here your thoughts about this. What do you think? Do you believe they are better off without him or not better off? Let me know in the comment section. Thank you.



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14 comments
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It seems that way, Portugal looks strong without Ronaldo and I think it's high time the coach takes the bull by the horn to manage Ronaldo. Ronald is a fantastic player but he needs to get his head in the game, it becomes embarrassing at this point for a player like him to be the worst on the pitch. I just hope he comes strong.

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I agree with you. I think the other factors are affecting his game. His head isn’t in the game and I think he should be rested until he starts showing he is 100% committed.

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They need to use him as a sub as he is not good enough and is that simple. He has past his sell by date and should have retired.

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I think he still believes he can still do the things he used to do when he was 20. I’m sure he will soon realize that old age has caught up with him. Maybe if Portugal wins the World Cup he will think of retiring.

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This man is just out of his peak. He still as greedy as he used to be. But His ability on the pitch is not as good as he was ... !! Time's running, Cristiano!!!

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Cristiano doesn’t want to swallow the hard truth. Which is his time has run out. Thanks for your comment

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The Portugal before is totally different to the Portugal squad now. In terms of talent, I'd say this is the golden generation of Portugal that can deliver titles. Apparently, Ronaldo has to accept that age is killing him. I have huge respect for this man and that will never change but his time is up.

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I totally agree with you on that. Have a great day buddy.

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One other thing most people don’t understand is that, against Switzerland the Portuguese coach played the offensive style of football by putting in Bruno Fernandes, Octavio and Bernardo Silva and leaving one defensive midfielder which is William Carvahlo. So this allowed more creativity and pressure upfront and hence goal scoring chances created. So when you look at it, any good striker would’ve performed well with this lineup. I just wished Cristiano started in that lineup.

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Great analysis on the game. Buh this isn’t the first time Santos has played this type of lineup. The last time he used it was against Ghana 🇬🇭. Which ended in a 3:2 win.

If he was in the lineup, the score line might have been bigger or even smaller. Buh I believe it would have been smaller. Because he would have been the center of attraction, we have watched games where you see Bruno trying to pick Ronaldo when he is in a tight position him not being on the field allowed them to pay freely.

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I was surprised to not see Ronaldo in the line up but then should it be a surprise when an underperforming player is left on the bench? Ronaldo hasn’t been the player he was last season and it shouldn’t be news when he’s benched but I guess it’s the perks of being one of the greatest to play the game.

There’s so much talent in the Portuguese squad now but I don’t think it’s a matter of being better without Ronaldo. They played a very attacking line up by playing just one defensive midfielder.

Hopefully he gets back to his best and lights this World Cup.

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I believe issues with Manchester United and other social media factors have gotten way into his head which is keeping him out of playing his best in the game.

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That’s possible. The players are very smart and they know the consequences of all their actions. Look at Lukaku. He said what he said and got himself back to Inter Milan. He’s performing better there.

Ronaldo’s case I just believe has got to do with his age, the name and the trouble he’s caused. It’s caused him to be under more scrutiny.

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Cancelled ahahah they're crying like Neymar 🤣

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