The temptation is to chastise Cristiano Ronaldo after what we saw against Slovenia. To think of him as spoiled, a free-kick hogger, the me-me-me popinjay of Portugal.
But really, I’m looking at Roberto Martinez, someone with such a lack of backbone that I’m surprised he’s standing up straight in the technical area.
He almost seems scared to axe Ronaldo, who might as well be named Portugal’s manager with the amount of carte blanche he is being gifted in Germany.
Eventually, a manager must realise when a player is not benefiting the team, no matter who it is. You have to be brave enough to make difficult decisions without worrying whom you might upset.
Nobody is disputing that Ronaldo had the most magnificent career imaginable. But on Monday night, he looked like the kid who brings the ball down to the local park and then when he’s had enough, he sticks it up his jumper and goes home so no one else can play.
Cristiano Ronaldo broke down in tears after his missed penalty capped a dismal performance in Portugal’s unconvincing victory over Slovenia in the last-16 at Euro 2024 on Tuesday
But Portugal boss Roberto Martinez doesn’t have the backbone to axe the selfish 39-year-old
It was a performance shrouded in selfishness, becoming more embarrassing every time he fluffed a free-kick while Bruno Fernandes stood idly by.
The tears that followed his penalty miss were proof that the pressure can get to even the greatest players. In the end, the shootout saved Ronaldo, who handled the heat by scoring his own spot kick.
But overall he was more of a hindrance to the team than a help, and that is being enabled by the puppet that is Martinez.
He has Goncalo Ramos in his squad, someone who scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over Switzerland at the 2022 World Cup when Martinez’s predecessor Fernando Santos took the ballsy decision to replace Ronaldo. He’s got Diogo Jota, who won the penalty against Slovenia, and Joao Felix, too.
The longer Martinez refuses to drop Ronaldo, the weaker he looks.