The Portuguese media criticizes Ronaldo! The team is stronger without him, 80% of the fans have defected, and two big wins are proof.

No one expected that at the critical moment when the Portuguese team won a big victory and secured qualification for the World Cup, their number one star Cristiano Ronaldo would be at the forefront. He had already been criticized by the outside world for receiving a red card and being sent off for an elbow attack in the game against Ireland. But now, the Portuguese media are firing continuously, believing that Ronaldo has not fulfilled his duties as a team leader at this stage.

The Football News stated that at a time when the team desperately needed Ronaldo to stand up, he chose to put the team in danger with irrational behavior. Subsequently, the football newspaper launched a vote among local fans whether to support Ronaldo to continue to start in the national team. As a result, more than 80% of Portuguese fans believe that Ronaldo is no longer suitable to continue to be the team's main force, and he can only be a substitute. Less than 20% of fans still support Ronaldo to continue to start the game, and this gap is indeed exaggerated. This proves that Portugal's own fans feel that Ronaldo has not fulfilled his duties as a leader.

What’s interesting is that this is not the first time that Ronaldo has been questioned by his own fans. As early as the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Football Newspaper launched a poll among fans. At that time, 70% of Portuguese fans did not support Ronaldo to continue to play the starting lineup. Now that they have brought this voting option out again, they continue to express their views. That is that Ronaldo is no longer as powerful as he used to be, and he is not suitable to continue to be the main force of the team. Combined with the views of many Portuguese fans, this does make the Portuguese superstar a little embarrassed. However, this is not the end, because another Portuguese media also made the same point.

Just now, Portuguese media Renascenca said that the Portuguese team will be stronger without Ronaldo. And they also provided data to support it. The media believes that the Portuguese team's overall lineup has become very good in recent years, and they have a large number of young talented stars. As Ronaldo gets older, he actually feels a little awkward in this lineup. Perhaps Ronaldo can still maintain a good scoring efficiency, but if he is not on the court, these stars will increase their efficiency.

In order to prove their point, the media stated that the Portuguese team has twice scored nine goals in a single game in its history. They were in the European qualifiers against Luxembourg in September 2023, when the Portuguese team swept their opponents 9:0. In the last game against Armenia, the Portuguese team at home also performed 9:1. In the two games, the Portuguese team directly played an overwhelming advantage.

These two games have one thing in common, that is, Ronaldo was absent due to suspension. In his absence, the other stars of the Portuguese team have shown very top efficiency and a more reasonable distribution of ball rights. At the same time, Bruno Fernandez, who was established as the core, also fulfilled the obligations of the big brother perfectly, which he did better than Ronaldo. In these two games, Gonzalo Ramos, who replaced Ronaldo in the starting lineup, scored twice and scored one goal and one assist in the two games. Although some fans questioned Ramos's poor performance against Armenia, he perfectly fulfilled the functions of a center in these two games, and this is actually enough. Based on this, this Portuguese media believes that if Ronaldo can take the initiative to serve as a substitute, the young players of the Portuguese team can exert their strength.

So in the World Cup, they are likely to perform even better than in the past. However, as soon as this report came out, it caused dissatisfaction among many Ronaldo fans. Many fans said that Ronaldo still has an excellent scoring efficiency at this stage, and one or two games is not enough to explain anything. Many fans even accused the Portuguese media of being ungrateful. So in your opinion, what role should Ronaldo play in the current Portuguese team? Should he really give up his position? Welcome to discuss in the comment area.