CRISTIANO RONALDO STORMED DOWN TUNNEL AFTER PORTUGAL TEAMMATE CLAIMED HE’S PAST HIS PEAK

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the Portugal lineup for their clash with Slovenia on Tuesday, but stormed down the tunnel in a huff after his side lost 2-0.

The friendly defeat was Portugal’s first under Roberto Martinez, who had led them to 13 wins on the bounce having taken over a year ago, in which time they’ve scored 49 goals.

A Ronaldo hissy fit

Ronaldo has started and captained the side in all but two of those wins, scoring ten of the goals himself, but missed the game before the defeat to Slovenia, with his replacement Goncalo Ramos scoring in a 5-2 win over Sweden, in which the side’s attacking fluency was particularly impressive.

Perhaps with that in mind, or simply because he’s a terrible loser who has forever thrown his toys out of the pram for the most minor of reasons, Ronaldo flounced down the tunnel after his side’s defeat to Slovenia, gesticulating angrily or someone or something.

Ronaldo lost his place in the team to Ramos for the knockout games at the World Cup in Qatar before being reinstated by Martinez, and teammate Joao Cancelo believes the team no longer depends on the striker, particularly given he’s past his peak.

Past his peak

Cancelo said: “He is an important player and spent 15 years competing with Messi for the Ballon d’Or, but the peak of a footballer’s career is between the ages of 25 and 32. He is an important player for us, but the national team does not depend entirely on him.”

READ: Why ‘world record holder’ Ronaldo has actually scored zero goals for Portugal

But Fulham and Portugal midfielder Joao Palhinha thinks Ronaldo remains crucial to the national team, as he provides “leadership” and takes the pressure off the rest of the squad.

“Cristiano’s role in the national team is always the same. It doesn’t change much. It’s that leadership that he also has and how important he is,”

“That also ends up taking a bit of the pressure off us, because Cristiano is the one who ends up taking all the pressure, even when the team doesn’t win, it’s all on Cristiano. His role is extremely important, it always has been since he joined the national team,”

2024-03-27T20:20:28Z dg43tfdfdgfd