Questions over Cristiano Ronaldo’s place in the Portugal team intensified after his missed penalty against Denmark on Sunday night.
Ronaldo is unquestionably Portugal’s greatest-ever player (sorry, Eusebio), having scored 135 goals in 218 appearances for his country before the match in Lisbon.
But the forward is now 40 and has slowed to the pace of an asthmatic ant carrying some heavy shopping over the past few years.
While Ronaldo still scores for fun in Saudi Arabia, his five appearances at Euro 2024 were goalless and increasingly witless.
Indeed, the Al-Nassr man united a warring continent in laughter after his missed penalty against Slovenia in the last 16.
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez appears afraid to even contemplate subbing or dropping Ronaldo, instead spending matches preparing a red carpet and a truckload of grapes for when His Majesty returns to the dressing room.
Needing to overturn a one-goal deficit in their Nations League play-off second leg against Denmark, Portugal won an early penalty after Manchester United defender Patrick Dorgu held Ronaldo’s shirt in the area.
In a moment of selflessness, Ronaldo handed the ball to Bruno Fernandes and prepared to celebrate the inevitable goal.
Just kidding.
Hitting a real mole-murderer of a penalty into the gloves of Kasper Schmeichel, Portugal fans could only sit and mentally count the days until Ronaldo announced his retirement.
Given his recent shoddy record from the spot, we can only imagine why Fernandes tempted fate by celebrating Ronaldo’s spot-kick before it had been taken.
Perhaps he knew Ronaldo would be pouring over footage in the small hours of the night and wanted to appear supportive of his struggling team-mate?
Bruno Fernandes appeared to be celebrating before Cristiano Ronaldo took the penalty.
He missed from the spot just moments later 🙃 pic.twitter.com/OkWdkDPDoV
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 23, 2025
Martinez had stood by his captain before the match, insisting that the criticism directed at Ronaldo is unjust.
“Our teams are very flexible tactically, we have played with two strikers,” he said.
“We need to use our players depending on our opponent. But it is not a question of trying to talk about Cristiano in every game.
“If Cristiano Ronaldo scores, he is the most important player in the team. When he does not score, it is because of his age. It is not a fair assessment.”
Prior to the second leg, Portuguese journalists critisised both Ronaldo and the team, while asking the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star whether he is still capable of completing a full match at international level.
“I feel like there’s a lot of negativity around the national team,” responded Ronaldo. “I’ve watched some of the press conferences over the last few days – I didn’t like what I saw, I don’t like it.
“And honestly, some of the questions you’ve asked were just disrespectful. If you want answers from me, look me in the eyes when you ask.
“There’s no point asking me something and then looking down at your computer. You’ll have time for that later. If necessary, I will say it ten times.”
Ronaldo did score in the second leg, tucking home a rebound after Schmeichel couldn’t hold a long-range Fernandes effort.
But his tame first-half penalty will ensure questions keep being asked about both his place in the Portugal team and why Fernandes has been ignoring his own eyes.
By Michael Lee
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