PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Cristiano Ronaldo has had a really tough time during the European Football Championship.
The Portuguese has yet to score a single goal and has endured harsh criticism.
Now the TV4 expert Siavoush Fallahi comes with unexpected words about Ronaldo.
It has not been an easy championship at all Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal is admittedly in the quarter-finals of the European Football Championship and remains one of the favorites for gold.
Criticism of Ronaldo
But Ronaldo has not lived up to the high expectations placed on him by both the football world and himself. So far, he has not managed to break the clean sheet yet and only contributed with one assist in four games.
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During the round of 16 against Slovenia, the 39-year-old again found himself in the spotlight when he failed to score from the penalty spot in extra time. Which led to Ronaldo crying on the pitch and has since endured harsh criticism for his selfishness.
“I feel sorry for Cristiano Ronaldo when I follow his pursuit of goals in this championship. It feels like when he goes up to head the ball a couple of times in the first half he knows he’d scored on the same post a couple of years ago. Now? He jumps, but is not close. He takes every single free kick and hits every single one of them without a goal,” writes the TV4 profile Siavoush Fallahi in a column on Fotbollskanalen.
“In the championship, he has now gone eight games without scoring a goal. He has hit around 60 free kicks in the WC and EC, which has resulted in a single goal. Looking at the shooters and the competition in Portugal, one wonders why or how none of the other players take the free kicks to either go for a finish or to hit a cross.”
The words of the TV4 profile
TV expert Fallahi, who has been celebrated in TV4’s EC studio, now opens up about Ronaldo being more of a burden for Portugal than an asset on the pitch.
“The desperate pursuit of goals or to silence their detractors cannot be good for Portugal as Cristiano Ronaldo, if he does not score, does not contribute anything at all. He doesn’t run, he doesn’t press, he just stands and in his best days he could score three goals with the same effort, but now he doesn’t do that anymore,” he writes in the column.
“I see it, you see it, Roberto Martinez sees it, the only one who doesn’t see it or doesn’t want to accept it is Cristiano Ronaldo. He misses a free-kick during regular time and is the player in the EC who has taken by far the most shots without scoring. Portugal are playing their fourth game with one less man on the pitch in the press game and it all feels like a ridiculous show of power. Does Martinez not dare to replace him? Is it Ronaldo who decides when he retires? Isn’t Gonçalo Ramos that bad?”.
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Here next, France awaits in the EC quarter-finals and then the question of a goalless Ronaldo is given continued confidence. Especially after what happened in the round of 16.
“In extra time, the Portuguese gets a penalty, which Oblak saves. The tears run down the 39-year-old’s cheek. I feel even more sorry for him. The will that made Cristiano Ronaldo one of the best players of all time has been replaced by what feels like desperation. He provided a fine assist for Bruno Fernandes earlier in the Championship, but someone needs to tell Cristiano Ronaldo that nothing can destroy his legacy for Portugal. He has won an EC. He has won most of what can be won in European club football,” writes Fallahi.
“He carries Portugal on his shoulders, but he doesn’t have to do it alone. There are enough good players in Portugal to relieve him. The question is whether Martinez dares to replace him. So far no one has seen it. Now Portugal is on, I’m sure Ronaldo will continue to start. That he bounced back from a penalty miss to score is strong, but the question is whether Portugal would have benefited from being able to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.
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