Portugal players accused of overlooking Cristiano Ronaldo vs Czechia
Roberto Martinez’s men claimed all three points against Czechia after a nerve-wracking tie in their opening game of the Euro 2024 campaign. Cristiano Ronaldo made his record appearance at his sixth European Championship.
A clutch goal from youngster Francisco Conceicao sealed a memorable comeback win for Selecao in their first fixture of Group F. Portugal dominated most of the proceedings but 39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo was silent throughout the match.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner started was silent for the majority of the tie and squandered five out of Portugal’s 19 chances last night.
Why was Portugal players accused of not passing to Cristiano Ronaldo?
The 39-year-old Al Nassr striker ended the Saudi Pro League season as its top scorer with 35 goals. But he struggled to make an impact in the 2022 World Cup and was dropped from the squad.
However, Ronaldo’s lacklustre display last night was down to his teammates who at times denied obvious passes to the former Real Madrid attacker. This is according to England legend Stuart Pearce who believes the Portugal man was overlooked by his foes.
“This might sound ridiculous, but [maybe] they don’t trust Ronaldo enough to keep supplying him with the ball, that type of thing,” Pearce said. “There’s been times in the games where he’s shown to feet and they’ve not popped the ball into his feet.
“There was one with Bernardo Silva, it was one of these rogue passes [by Czech Republic] that got cut out. Bernardo Silva had it in the centre circle, Ronaldo peeled off in an inside-right position. I’m thinking, ‘If this was ten years ago, you slide it in front of him and you know full well he’s going to get there and score.’ He [Silva] denied the pass, and I found that quite strange.”