Cristiano Ronaldo Is Still Portugal’s Key Piece, and He Will Remain So

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: July 12, 2016

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As he waited to be interviewed by the host broadcaster in the Stade de France tunnel after Portugal’s historic Euro 2016 win, Cristiano Ronaldo craned his neck forward and stared into the camera. “How do I look?” he asked, tightening his cheeks and exposing that famous, gleaming grin. “Shiny,” came the reply from behind the camera. Ronaldo raised his eyebrows and laughed.

It was a strange night for Portugal’s captain in Saint-Denis—a night in which lots of the cliches about him were confirmed, and a host of others were consigned to the rubbish bin. Yes, he still has something of a hero complex, which was plain in the way he tried to carry on way past the point at which his match was clearly done.

The 16-minute lag between Dimitri Payet's challenge that injured Ronaldo's knee and the moment when the Portugal captain was finally substituted was painful viewing, as he fought against nature as best he could, hobbling across the turf. It was heavily reminiscent of his efforts in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, in fact.

Yet elsewhere, Ronaldo was the picture of the team linchpin, rather than the distant individual superstar. He made his re-emergence onto the field at the end of the 90 minutes, before the beginning of extra time. He then beckoned the group around him for a team talk after speaking to a number of them on an individual basis.

This was the public face of a role that had begun in the Portugal dressing room at half-time, with his tears of disappointment barely dry on his cheeks. “Cristiano had fantastic words for us,” said right–back Cedric after the game, as reported here by The Independent’s Jack Pitt-Brooke.“He gave us a lot of confidence. He said ‘listen people, I am sure we will win. So stay together and fight for it.’ He was fantastic, his attitude was unbelievable.”

It wasn’t the first time in the tournament...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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