Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal, and added an assist in Portugal’s 3-2 win over Ghana this Thursday. To question his importance to the team may be rude even. However, there were moments throughout the game where he looked a bit out of sync, and he missed a couple of chances early that perhaps made this game closer than it needed to be.
Months before the World Cup we wondered how many minutes Cristiano could realistically provide for Portugal during the tournament. Today coach Fernando Santos left him out there for over 80 minutes. Which clearly indicates that Ronaldo is going to play a big role in the team. He’s going to need to find good form if Portugal wants to advance deep into the tournament.
The Positive Impact of Ronaldo’s Presence On The Field
Currently, the biggest impact that Ronaldo has on the game is the fact that defenders are still very much aware of where he is on the pitch. There’s no question that he’s not as effective in 1v1 scenarios as he was even a few years back. We could make the argument that no other player on the planet was as affected by the COVID riddled 2020 break as Ronaldo was. Because of his age even then it was hard for him to regain the rhythm that he had prior to the stoppage. Perhaps that has something to do with such a noticeable decline, it’s not just age.
Still, going back to the impact which is what we said we would talk about here, his runs affect the defense. He could really help the team by making runs and allowing other players to come in behind them with Ronaldo taking away the attention. Also, he can still jump! As a number 9 he can be a real asset on any cross or corner that comes into the box. He missed a wide open header, but he got up for that play!
The Negative Impact of Having Ronaldo
There’s still a sense that Portugal players are cognizant of the fact that Ronaldo needs to touch the ball on offense. When as we’ve argued he could be better employed as a decoy, and actually limiting his touches on offense could be a good thing. Multiple times during the game we saw players forcing passes to Ronaldo. He would also force himself to try and one a 1v1. When he realizes that he doesn’t have that extra speed or the power to be able to leave the defender in the dust he starts to get frustrated and a lot of times that ends up being counterproductive. If his teammates still want to force passes to Ronaldo he may end up being a liability to the squad.
Should He Continue To Start For The Team?
Cristiano Ronaldo is going to continue to start for Portugal. The only way that he wouldn’t start is if in a bizarre turn of events Fernando Santos gets sacked, and Erik ten Hag takes over the Portugal team. Obviously that’s not going to happen. Now, should he continue to start? The respect that Ronaldo gets is probably only matched by the respect that Lionel Messi gets. Also, as we mentioned he can still be a very good number 9 in the box. Maybe he shouldn’t be spending as much time outside the box anymore.
However, if his teammates feel too much pressure to always try to get him the ball this can be counterproductive. He needs to make it clear to them that he shouldn’t always get the ball. That seems like the most anti-Cristiano Ronaldo thing to do. That would help the team. If they can play more freely he should absolutely start. If his presence brings more pressure to his teammates then put Rafa Leao in there!
