Cristiano Ronaldo transmits anxiety to his teammates. Veterans must do the opposite in their teams, lower the heart rate of the youngsters so as not to lose focus, but the Portuguese is obsessed with his numbers. His ego led him to announce his departure from Real Madrid on the same pitch after winning the Champions League. And now it leads him to seek his goal above all else. Even above his team’s victory. With less ego, he could now be the only footballer on the planet with seven Champions League titles. The “7” plays from the first minute as if it were the last, as if he had to come back from an adverse result. But the only adversity is that in the years he has been playing in Euro Cups – he made his debut in 2004 – he had never gone beyond the first round without scoring. And so he goes, looking for his goal like crazy. With the ball in play or with the ball stopped. Even if there is a foul on the sideline, there he goes to look for the goal. It doesn’t matter.
And while he is doing his thing, Portugal, a team full of talent, is looking for other outlets on the flanks, which is where Cristiano least looks for the ball because it moves away from the goal. In the first half he looked for it through the speed of Rafael Leão; in the second, through the overflow of Cancelo.
Slovenia, who had drawn all their matches, were content to hold on and wait for Sesko to find a ball that could have decided the match in their favour. They needed to be fresher on one occasion to have beaten Diogo Costa.
The Slovenians have the comfort of having Oblak behind them. The Atlético goalkeeper feels comfortable when he has the defenders close to him and the Slovenians don’t dare to come out too far from his area. And Cristiano’s long-range shots didn’t seem to be a problem for him.
It feels like the Portuguese’s talent will be unleashed when Cristiano scores and they can function as a real team without needing to constantly cater to the whims of their star.
But there was no way. Even the help of the referee, the Italian Orsato, was of no use to the Portuguese captain. He saw a penalty for a fall by Jota in the area that was nothing more than a fall. Cristiano went to the eleven meters, hit hard to the side and Oblak stretched out his arms to clear towards the post and prevent the Portuguese goal.
Cristiano went from being an anxious player to a depressed player. There was little time left before the extra time break and when he went to the huddle with his coach at the short break he could only pay attention to his tears. With his head down, it was his teammates who had to cheer him up instead of paying attention to his coach’s instructions.
Roberto Martinez did not have the courage to do without him when he took over as coach and while the captain is increasing his goal and match figures, Portugal is sinking into mediocrity. It is a team at the service of an ego.
Cristiano was crying over his mistake from the penalty spot and Sesko was lamenting his mistake in the one-on-one with Diogo Costa after receiving an involuntary pass from Pepe. The Portuguese goalkeeper stretched his leg to prevent the goal and give his team life.
The penalties came. Cristiano scored his first, and Diego Costa saved all of the Slovenians’. Portugal is in the quarter-finals thanks to its goalkeeper and despite Cristiano.
2024-07-01 22:07:51
#Portugal #Cristiano
