Lisbon (AFP)
The star is still a star, as the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, who is framed in a secondary role this season with his Manchester United team, remains important for his country, which is a guest of the Czech “Saturday” in the capital, Prague, in the competitions of the fifth penultimate stage of the European Nations League.
Since the beginning of his professional career in 2002, the 37-year-old was accustomed to tirelessly biting off minutes of play and scoring countless goals, but now he is resigned to his new status as a substitute in the “Red Devils”.
Of the ten matches played by Manchester United during the 2022-2023 season, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner participated only three times, and instead, the Dutch team coach Eric Ten Hag preferred to include the English international Marcus Rashford.
And while he remains on the bench regularly, CR7 sees his statistics declining, as he had to wait until last week to score his first goal of the season, from a penalty kick he scored at Sherif Tiraspol of Moldova 2-0, in the Europa League competitions. “In a rare match in which the Portuguese participated in the first place.
But despite his few minutes of participation in the English club, Ronaldo remains the focus of consensus in Portugal, as everyone depends on him, starting with coach Fernando Santos.
“I don’t think anyone would doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo is still important for the national team,” the 67-year-old said when unveiling his Nations League roster for the matches against the Czech Republic and Spain.
With 189 caps and 117 goals, a world record, the Portuguese superstar always seems to be his coach’s priority in the national team’s attack line.
As evidence of this, among the names of those chosen for this last international window before the Qatar World Cup 2022 (from November 20 to December 18), the name of Leipzig’s attacking midfielder Andre Silva was absent.
Santos did not call in a striker until after the sudden announcement on Monday of the retirement of Benfica international attacking midfielder Rafa Silva, to be replaced by his club colleague Goncalo Ramos, who is participating for the first time with the national team.
For his part, Ronaldo does not hide his desire to continue the adventure with his country, at least until the European Cup 2024, when he approaches the age of forty.
“My career is not over, you have to continue supporting Chris “Ronaldo” for some time,” the Portuguese said Tuesday, after receiving the “Quinas do Oro” award presented by the Portuguese Football Federation for the best scorer in the history of the national team.
“I want to participate in the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 European Cup, I feel very motivated. My ambition is great.”
Ronaldo does not seem satisfied, as he has so far played nine major tournaments with “Celeção” Europe, and similarly, he does not seem ready to make room for the new generation, symbolized in particular by AC Milan striker Rafael Leao, even if he admits to merging “a squad made up of many players.” Young people have a great future.”
In response to a question Thursday about the captain’s comments, Wolverhampton midfielder Robin Neves was not surprised.
And the 25-year-old stressed that “in a way, we knew that in advance from his way of working, his participation, and every time he was called up to the national team he was exceptional, he would be more than ready for those competitions.”
With its second place in Group B, one point behind Spain, Portugal must collect points in the Czech Republic if it wants to preserve its chances of qualifying for the semi-finals before facing “La Roja” on Tuesday.
In this context, Ronaldo’s ability to score may be decisive, as the Portuguese give the impression of being lost in this task in his absence.
Last June, without Ronaldo, the 2016 European champion was defeated in Switzerland “0-1”, and he did not know the way to the net despite the many opportunities.
At the moment, the Portuguese national team has not yet found a replacement for its veteran star, whose scoring instinct allowed him to score a frightening number of goals (816) during his career.