Special Envoy of the Observer in Doha, Qatar
An article in El País published this Wednesday on the situation of Cristiano Ronaldo served as a paradigmatic example of the reversal of roles that the entire soap opera ended up promoting in which he is always the main actor. Now, according to the publication, “the Portuguese resort prefers Gonçalo Ramos to Cristiano.” Who? Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and even the country’s prime minister, António Costa. Does the information come from within? No, only the statements made from the mixed zone. And what did they say? Bruno Fernandes praised the captain, admitting that being on the bench is as difficult for him as it is for an 18-year-old because nobody likes him, but never making comparisons. Bernardo Silva made a slightly more tactical analysis, explaining the strong points of both and highlighting the young man’s great night. antonio costa could not have been more political in response – In football and engineering, the coach is the one who knows.
Deep down it is more perception than anything else, something that can also be understood from the statements of José Fonte, European National Team champion in 2016, on the BBC’s daily podcast. “Portugal have the quality to do this in every game, but we have to be honest: only his presence on the field means that the players of the national team unconsciously and automatically have to play for him, Always give him the ball. For who you are, for what you have done and for what you are still capable of doing. When he’s not there, Portugal plays more like a team and it shows: they played fluidly, without a single focus, everyone contributed and it was beautiful to watch. We had success with Cristiano Ronaldo during these years, he was very influential. Gonçalo Ramos offers a different game proposal and had a perfect night. You don’t teach a legend like Ronaldo. Ronaldo will always be Ronaldo and for Portugal it is even very positive that a player like him comes off the bench, it will be one more problem to cause the rival”, said the experienced Lille central defender.
It was also in this context that the Spanish press announced this Wednesday that Ronaldo reportedly refused to join training. of the substitutes used or not used after the match with Switzerland, in one more case for Fernando Santos to direct internally. A source from the Federation rejected this scenario, explaining that after the games the captain almost always does gym work and that’s what happened.
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Source: Observadora
