Tuesday 21 June 2016

Ultimate glory slipping away from Ronaldo

Has Cristiano Ronaldo's insatiable ego blown his chance of tournament glory?

It is impossible to deny he is one of the best players in the world right now, if not ever.

And he has certainly come close - runner-up at Euro 2004 and semi-finals at 2012 - not to mention the last four of the 2006 World Cup.

But as his late penalty against Austria - to seal three points and a knockout slot - whacked the post and bounced away, you could not help feel it is all slipping away from him. 

And you would have struggled to find anyone to sympathise.

It says everything that a man who holds scoring records by the bucketload planted his head in his hands and looked totally, totally alone.

Built like a brick outhouse, with slick hair and a bronze perma-tan, the man with the impenetrable ego suddenly looked at breaking point. 

His cocksure arrogance and bravado may have given him the platform to steamroller scoring charts all over Europe and rewrite the record books.

But his "me, me, me" attitude is not a recipe for success in international football.

Look at some of the sides to win the Euros down the years... Holland 1988, Denmark 1992, Greece 2004, Spain 2008 & 2012. 

Some have had big individual stars, some have not - but the thing they all have in common is a solid team ethic that makes them greater than the sum of their parts. 

England's golden generation had a team full of stars: Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry etc

But they always lacked an overall identity and never came close to international glory.

The same is happening now with Belgium's current crop of Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Alex Witsel. 

Lots of great individuals that seem destined never to realise their potential as a unit. 

When you have an all-time great in your team, it is expected that the team is built around them. 

Argentina with Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, Brazil with Pele and Holland with Johan Cruyff.

But the Portuguese tactics are not so much built around Ronaldo, as reliant on him. 

They push the ball to him and see what he can do. If he loses it, he blames someone else, if someone else loses it, he erupts. 

For a national captain, the 31-year-old does not so much inspire his team-mates as scare the living daylights out of them.

If a team can stop Ronaldo, they can stop Portugal.

And when it goes wrong, once again he's the centre of attention.

In their opening 1-1 draw with Iceland, the Real Madrid ace had to have a whinge that the Scandinavians celebrated a draw. 

They had every right to celebrate - nobody gave them any hope. 

But to Ronaldo, winning is everything. 

This is a man who is so determined to take the glory that he always wants last penalty - that backfired in 2012, as Portugal lost their semi-final shootout to Spain before their best penalty taker even stepped up.

This is a man who stands on tip toes in team photos just to appear taller than the others.

Portugal are not without their quality... Joao Moutinho, William Carvalho, Fabio Coentrao, Nani.

But in Ronaldo they have someone who saps the team of enthusiasm and creativity, such is his own desire to be the hero. 

Messi, his rival at the top of world football, happily shares the ball, the plaudits and the glory with team-mates.

Ronaldo's desperate quest for personal glory gives him no inclination to share anything and is one reason Portugal are on the brink of crashing out of Euro 2016.


It is also the reason Ronaldo’s international trophy cabinet looks set to remain empty.

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