He had come to Qatar with the dream of taking Portugal to the top of the world for the first time in their history and entering a little more into football legend. Three weeks of hope and controversy later, it was in tears that Cristiano Ronaldo bowed out following the defeat to Morocco. Forever ?
They were three. Three players like no other, landed in Qatar to play their last card in the hope of winning the crown in a competition that has been denied them, often with cruelty, since the beginning of their careers. Twenty-four hours after the images of an inconsolable Neymar in the arms of Dani Alves, it’s up to Cristiano Ronaldo to be forced to retire, with equally shining eyes. Except that contrary to No. 10 of the Selectionthe five-time Ballon d’Or went directly to the locker room, alone, as if to further underline a form of isolation of recent days.
All eyes on me
Since Tuesday evening and his relegation to the bench by a Fernando Santos well aware of the tsunami to which he was exposed, CR7 has found himself at the center of all attention. Is Portugal better off without him? What role can he still play in this race for the star whose number 1 protagonist has been seen, unquestionably? What trace could leave a coronation where it would be only a second knife? “Because of his professionalism, what he represents for Portugal and for the team, I had to do it. The meeting with Cristiano took place on the day of the match in my office, after lunch. There was no discussion before. I explained to him the reasons for my tactical choice. Frankly. Cristiano was very disappointed, obviously he didn’t accept this decision, otherwise it would have been abnormal. But he never told me that he wanted to leave the Selection » then defended Santos in a press conference, making sure he was still fully focused on lifting the Jules Rimet trophy.
Against Morocco on Saturday, all of these questions were ignored. Once more seated on the bench, he helplessly watched the tremendous jump of En-Nesyri to come and freeze the Selection. Before joining his comrades in their commando operation to try and break through the Moroccan wall. In vain. Arriving shortly after half-time, Ronaldo barely had a chance to eat on the edge of stoppage time, but failed to shake Bounou and score his first goal in the finals of a World Cup. He started his tournament with a converted penalty against Ghana and became the first player to score in five World Cups, but this will remain his only true accomplishment of the crash. Since the story of his goal finally attributed to Bruno Fernandes against Uruguay, everything has derailed. Up to what is clearly similar to goodbyes.
Thus ends a fabulous epic
From the height of his almost 38 years (next February 5), 196 selections (equaled absolute record of the Egyptian Bader Al-Mutawa) for 118 sweets and about 20 years at the highest level, the return of the top scorer in the history of international football to play for Portugal? The question remains unanswered for the moment, while a younger generation seems poised to take over. Since his interview shortly before the start of the competition and his departure from Manchester United, the future of one of the greatest players of all time has been increasingly unclear. Will he join Al-Nasr and Saudi Arabia? Only one thing is certain: the boy is not far from having offered everything he had under his sole on a green rectangle. “Obviously we are very impressed, it’s normal” he found nothing else to say to Fernando Santos “no regrets” at a press conference.
We must then ask ourselves the question: what place does Ronaldo leave in the golden register of football? Of his selection of him, of which he broke all the records, or almost? This will necessarily depend in part on the outcome of the competition for his another self etNemesis, Lionel Messi, also still looking for a first world title. But it will remain immense no matter what. Unless the boy’s steel mind and his will to do take the upper hand and we find him again next spring, ready to return to battle for Euro 2024. But as far as the World Cup is concerned, the dream really seems to have vanished.
By Tom Binet
