Former England forward and Arsenal great Ian Wright believes that Portugal’s iconic forward Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer “cut” to play at the top level. Ronaldo and Portugal’s campaign in the Euro 2024 ended after France handed them a defeat in penalties in the quarter-final. After his prolific season with Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, goals were expected from the Portuguese goal-scoring machine. However, for the first time in his illustrious career, Ronaldo failed to score a single goal in a major competition.
After Portugal crashed out of the tournament, speculation has been building around the future of Ronaldo at the international level.
Wright believes that with the way Ronaldo performed throughout the tournament, his compatriot Diogo Jota would be disappointed about not getting enough opportunity to not get time on the pitch.
“Portugal should be very disappointed about that [going out of EURO 2024] simply because of how good their team is – when you look at them from defence to attack. The way he [Cristiano Ronaldo] played in EURO 2024, as great as he’s been, surely Diogo Jota must be disappointed that he couldn’t get on that pitch,” Wright said on Sky Sports’ Stick to Football: The Overlap Special as quoted from Goal.com.
“What I saw of him [Cristiano Ronaldo], he can’t cut it at this level now. As good as he is, as fit as he is, as driven as he is, you can see he just can’t quite get it out of his feet to get a shot in, the movement with a header, he can’t get past a defender now,” he added.
Ronaldo’s teammate during his time at Manchester United, Roy Keane, believes that the seasoned striker should take a break from international football and assess his situation when World Cup 2026 is around the corner.
“He [Cristiano Ronaldo] should have a break and step back from international football, and if he’s still playing at club level, then have a look at the World Cup when it comes around. We look at [Harry] Kane when Kane’s quite off it, and your main goal scorers not at it, you’re playing with ten men. When you’re playing at the highest level, you really can’t carry anybody. His [Cristiano Ronaldo] movement is still there – against France, brilliant,” Keane noted.
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