{"id":417431,"date":"2026-06-18T07:23:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/?p=417431"},"modified":"2026-06-18T07:23:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:23:24","slug":"portugals-ronaldo-does-little-to-shake-perception-he-is-yesterdays-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/portugals-ronaldo-does-little-to-shake-perception-he-is-yesterdays-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Portugal’s Ronaldo does little to shake perception he is yesterday’s man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez was not in the mood to speak specifically about Ronaldo\u2019s performance in the post-match press conference, suggesting the forward was not given the support he needed

Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo’s two second-half misses against the Democratic Republic of Congo and a mostly anonymous display did little to dissuade those who feel he \u200bis past his prime and not the man to lead his country to World \u200cCup success<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portugal were held to a 1-1 draw in Group K by a Congolese side appearing at their first global finals in 52 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ronaldo, 41, is at his sixth World Cup, a record he jointly holds with \u200bArgentina’s Lionel Messi, and had two chances to win the game, both of \u200bwhich he put wide from close range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The frustration from his captain Bruno \u2060Fernandes, who had lined up behind Ronaldo in the first of the opportunities, was evident \u200band prolonged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ronaldo had the fewest touches (25) of any Portugal player who featured for more than 45 \u200bminutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez was not in the mood to speak specifically about Ronaldo’s performance in the post-match press conference, suggesting the forward was not given the support he needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have to utilise all the \u200bplayers on the pitch. The lead attacker (Ronaldo) needs to be close to the six-yard box \u200band we need to get the ball (to him).”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Makes no sense to substitute Ronaldo, says Martinez<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if he thought \u200cabout \u2060substituting Ronaldo, Martinez said the forward’s experience was key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It makes no sense to get the best goalscorer in world football out in a game that you need goals,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For us in moments like this, the experience of Cristiano in the box is important. The way that \u200bhe attracts defenders is \u200bimportant, the way \u2060that we can use the space is important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“And every player has a responsibility or a piece of quality on the pitch. And clearly \u200bwhen you look for goals, you need to have Cristiano.”<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate over \u200bwhether Ronaldo \u2060should be used as a starter, off the bench or not at all is not a new one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His incredible return of 143 goals in 229 caps \u2013 both of which are records in \u2060men’s international \u200bfootball \u2013 puts him among football’s greats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Portugal are not \u200blacking talent in attacking areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are next in action against Uzbekistan in Houston on Tuesday, before they face Colombia in a \u200bfinal Group K clash in Miami on 27 June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Portugal coach Roberto Martinez was not in the mood to speak specifically about Ronaldo\u2019s performance in the post-match press conference, suggesting the forward was not given the support he needed Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo’s two second-half misses against the Democratic Republic of Congo and a mostly anonymous display did little to dissuade those who feel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-417431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12903"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417439,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417431\/revisions\/417439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}