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World Cup 2022: Does Portugal need Ronaldo to win?

After parting with MU, CR7 was determined to make a mark in Qatar to prove that his time was not over. However, the performance of the former Juventus striker disappointed football fans.
Leey
By: Leey

Cristiano Ronaldo is the only European player named in the worst team of the 2022 World Cup group stage, according to the evaluation of Sofa Score. The 37-year-old striker scored from the 11-meter mark against Ghana, then missed many great opportunities and made some mistakes in his next 2 matches against Uruguay and South Korea.

The worst squad of Group Stage of World Cup 2022

Ronaldo’s performance is poor

According to a poll conducted by A Bola, Portugal’s news agency, 70% of national team fans want coach Fernando Santos to drop Ronaldo from the main team in the round of 16. The main reason for this may be the poor performance of Ronaldo in the match against South Korea.

In this match, the former Manchester United striker only appeared on the field for 65 minutes before being substituted, making way for Andre Silva. In total, Ronaldo launched two shots, in which one shot was saved and the other shot was not accurate. His ball sense is very bad. The 37-year-old superstar touched the ball only 26 times, passed the ball with 79% accuracy, was blown offside three times, made a mistake leading to the home team's goal, and missed a great opportunity. He seemed to disappear in the attack role. He finished it out even when the Korean goal was wide open.

Ronaldo had a poor performance against Korea.

Ronaldo not only missed a scoring opportunity, but also made a mistake that led to Portugal's defeat. In the 27th minute, the former MU player's back touch accidentally created an assist for Kim Young-Gwon to finish close to the wall, which helped South Korea equalize.

Ronaldo had only scored one goal in three matches. Most notably, CR7 has not scored any goals from open-ball situations (the only goal is from the penalty spot), has only hit the target twice, has not recorded any assists, and has never successfully passed the ball. With the decline, it is not difficult to understand why Portugal’s fans turned their backs on Ronaldo, whom they considered a legend.

CR7's influence on the national team has decreased markedly. This was also clearly seen when coach Fernando Santos replaced Ronaldo in all three World Cup group stage matches. It can be seen that the former MU striker is no longer an "untouchable player."

Even without Ronaldo, Portugal played well and had a win. The 2-0 win over Uruguay in the group stage is an example. After CR7 was withdrawn, "Selecao" showed a different face, with more energy and speed. They attack quickly and hit the ball evenly on both wings.

Does Portugal really need Ronaldo in the match against Switzerland in the quarterfinals?

In the matches of the group stage, the coach, Santos, always gave Ronaldo opportunities to play. Despite using the 37-year-old star for the entire match, Portugal's national coach allowed Ronaldo to play almost time out of respect and belief in the former Manchester United striker.

However, coach Santos may pay for his decision if he continues to use Ronaldo. Switzerland is a team rich in strength and speed. They once overcame France in the round of 16 with this style of play. At that time, arranging for a 37-year-old Ronaldo could push Portugal into challenge.

Ronaldo's influence on the field is gradually waning. He no longer creates the danger or the ability to eat as well as he used to. Even the people of Portugal feel this way about their country's arguably greatest player. The Euro 2016 champion comes to this year's World Cup with many young and quality options in attack. Trying to use Ronaldo and skip Rafael Leao, Joao Felix, Guedes, Andre Silva, or Goncalo Ramos is a huge waste. 

CR7's biggest hope is the World Cup in 2022. He skipped everything at Old Trafford to focus solely on the world's largest football tournament. The World Cup in 2022 will be Cristiano Ronaldo's final opportunity to dedicate himself and win the world championship. Therefore, if he had a chance to appear in Portugal’s squad for the match against Switzerland, Ronaldo needed to wake up himself and show his strength as he played. If Ronaldo's current form does not improve, perhaps Coach Santos did not dare to continue giving Ronaldo the optimal belief. 

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Leey
Written by: Leey
Leey is the reporter for Betimate. She currently has a series of articles about football. She specializes in researching football data to come up with evaluations about the tournament and predictions about the matches.

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