The Portuguese team is one of the most impressive names in their journey to the EURO 2024 finals with a record of winning all 10 matches in the qualifying round.
With a squad of world-class talents, reaching maturity and playing at many of Europe’s top clubs, it is not difficult to understand that “Seleccao” is predicted by supercomputer Opta to be in the top 5 applications. top contender for the championship with 9.2%.
However, when talking about the team from the Iberian Peninsula, there is a name that is 39 years old but is still the focus of every tournament this national team participates in: Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is no longer the center
At the 11th and possibly final international tournament of his career for Portugal, there has been a lot of speculation about Ronaldo’s role at EURO 2024.
When Roberto Martinez was appointed as the new coach of the Portuguese team in January 2023, many people thought it seemed like the right time for a new start.
After the success under Fernando Santos with the EURO 2016 and UEFA Nations League championships in 2019, it is clear that “Seleccao” needs to change the somewhat negative defensive style of play to be able to take full advantage of the talent on the line. The success of this team is extremely abundant.
Under coach Roberto Martinez, the Portuguese team showed terrifying destructive power in the EURO 2024 qualifiers. Photo: Opta.
How Martínez will use Ronaldo is also a big question mark. In fact, the Spanish strategist still has no intention of limiting the 39-year-old striker’s role in the team.
The evidence is very clear when looking at the numbers in Portugal’s qualifying campaign, Ronaldo had 9/10 starting matches, a number only beaten by Bruno Fernandes with all 10 matches being in the squad. start.
In terms of total minutes played, only Bruno Fernandes (844) and Ruben Dias (810) played more than Ronaldo’s 726. That shows that “Seleccao” still needs CR7 in Germany.
However, an important tactical change under Martinez is that Portugal is less dependent on Ronaldo than in previous years. Previously, it felt like the Portuguese players’ only plan was to find ways to get the ball to Ronaldo and hope he would find the next solution.
In the EURO 2024 qualifiers, Ronaldo only had an average of 3
6.9 touches of the ball per match. There are 16 other Portuguese players who average more touches of the ball than the Al Nassr striker.
With individuals possessing good technical foundations in midfield and attack such as Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Rafael Leao or Joao Felix, it can be seen that the Portuguese team does not need Ronaldo to do everything.
Cristiano Ronaldo no longer has to carry a heavy burden on Portugal’s attack at EURO 2024. Photo: Opta.
At the age of 39, the burden of age has somewhat affected Cristiano Ronaldo and perhaps “Seleccao” should not depend on such an individual.
Instead, coach Martinez is trying to build his idea of a Portuguese team that attacks freely, liberally and combines with Ronaldo.
That also reduces the responsibility and burden on CR7. Instead, Portugal will use the experience and killer instinct of striker Al-Nassr to make the final “finishing blow” after combination phases.
In the EURO 2024 qualifiers, Ronaldo did not make any crosses and only made 3 dribbles. However, the important thing is that the 39-year-old striker took 46 shots and had 19 balls on target, bringing in 10 goals – a number only less than Romelu Lukaku (14 goals) in the qualifying round.
Hope on the offensive line
The longer wine is kept, the better it tastes. The older Ronaldo gets, the better he plays. The Portuguese superstar this season went down in history as the greatest goalscorer in the Saudi Pro League.
With 35 goals, CR7 broke the record of Moroccan striker Abderrazak Hamdallah (34 goals) in the 2018/19 season.
No matter what tournament he plays in, even when he is old, this player still becomes a terror to goalkeepers.
However, the story is very different for Portugal’s attackers in the 2023/24 season.
Data shows that Ronaldo touches the ball less, but has more time to create classy shots. Photo: Opta.
Across Europe’s top 5 leagues, the Portuguese player with the most goals is PSG’s Gonçalo Ramos with only 11 goals in Ligue 1, followed by Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota both with 10 goals.
This makes it almost impossible for Coach Martinez to remove Ronaldo and replace him with a young and dynamic striker.
CR7 is currently the greatest scorer in the history of EURO finals with 14 goals. In all five previous EURO appearances, Ronaldo scored at least one goal in each tournament.
In 2016, he had to leave the field due to injury in the final against France when Portugal lifted its first international trophy. If Portugal can advance that far in Germany, it will be the perfect ending for the “last dance” of one of the greatest legends in football history.
