Soccer: Star-studded Portugal aiming to shake off underachievers tag

ONE of Portugal’s best generations of players, led by Cristiano Ronaldo in the twilight of his career, will arrive at the World Cup with the pressure of proving they are not underachievers.

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The Portuguese soccer landscape has been drastically transformed over the past two decades as the country evolved from a mid-level team into one of the world’s best, with the country being viewed as a talent machine.

Bruno Fernandes, Rafael Leao, Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva, Vitinha and others will make Portugal, on paper, one of the best teams man-for-man in Qatar. But the reality is different from the theory with Portugal.

The rise of forward Cristiano Ronaldo and manager Jose Mourinho had a major impact on the

country’s soccer culture, leading them to the Euro 2004 final and Euro 2016 triumph.

However, the impact of Portugal’s Euros success is fading fast and winning the Nations League title at home in 2019 has not eased the criticism with recent outings disappointing.

They lost in the last-16 at Euro 2020, failed to qualify for the finals at the last two Nations League editions and had to go through the playoffs to reach this year’s World Cup.

Their latest defeat at home to Spain in their final match of the Nations League group stage sparked criticism aimed towards manager Fernando Santos and captain Ronaldo.

Fans and local media are questioning if the time has come for the veteran coach to step down and for Ronaldo to pass the baton to the new generation and assume a secondary role in a team full of young and talented players.

The latest crop are part of the elite but have not been able to shine in the national team due to the insistence on moulding and adapting their game to accommodate Ronaldo.

After losing 0-1 against Spain in Braga in October, when Portugal dominated possession but wasted chances only to see their savvy neighbours score the winner in added time, Santos had to answer several questions about his future.

“I have a contract until 2024 and I intend on honouring it until the end,” he firmly told reporters.

If the pressure of the latest results was not enough, the coach must tackle two different problems up front — the absence of injured Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and Joao Felix’s poor form at Atletico Madrid, where the ^120 million striker has become a bench warmer this season. — Reuters

CR7’s last chance

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been named the best player in the world five times, will arrive in Qatar with a mission to prove that he can still make a difference. It is indisputable that Ronaldo is one of the greatest forwards of all time but his latest struggles with Manchester United and Portugal have raised many questions about whether his brilliant career is nearing a bitter end.

Ronaldo is the leading scorer in the history of men’s international football with 117 goals in 191 official matches.

However, for a model athlete who got used to breaking records playing for some of the biggest clubs in the world, like Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United, his current form and attitude have been under the spotlight. His brace versus the Swiss in the Nations League were his only goals in the 10 games Portugal have played in the last year. With United he has scored just three times this season and his problems with manager Erik ten Hag have made headlines. Reuters

Portugal matches

Group H

vs Ghana, November 24

vs Uruguay, November 28

vs S Korea, December 2

At the World Cup

8 World No. 9 Portugal will be appearing in their eighth World Cup so far

3 In the last three editions, they haven’t been able to get past the last-16 stage

1 They participated only once between 1966 and 1998 — in Mexico 1986

How they qualified

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal had to go through the pain of the playoffs after losing 2-1 in their final group stage game against Serbia.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa, Jose Sa, Rui Patricio

Defenders: Diogo Dalot, Joao Cancelo, Danilo Pereira, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Antonio Silva, Nuno Mendes, Raphael Guerreiro

Midfielders: Joao Palhinha, Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Mario, Matheus Nunes, Vitinha, William Carvalho, Otavio

Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix, Rafael Leao, Ricardo Horta, Goncalo Ramos, Andre Silva

Form guide

Pressure and criticism are high for Portugal who have had a series of disappointing results since winning the opening edition of the Nations League at home in 2019. They were knocked out by Belgium in the last-16 of the Euros in 2021, had to go through the playoffs to qualify for the World Cup and failed to reach the final four of the Nations League for the second consecutive year.