DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The fortunes of the Portugal national team have been inextricably linked to that of Cristiano Ronaldo. for almost two decades.
Is a new era approaching?
Ronaldo was in tears as he made his way to the locker room after Portugal’s 1-0 loss to Morocco. in the World Cup Quarterfinals on Saturday.
Whether that was the last time the world saw Ronaldo on the international soccer stage remains to be seen. If it is, it marks a great moment for the Portugal team, given that Ronaldo is their captain, top scorer and greatest player of all time.
There is a possibility that the team will also have a different manager for the first time since 2014, when qualifying for the 2024 European Championship begins in March.
EXPECTATION VS. PERFORMANCE
Reaching the quarter-finals was the least expected of Portugal considering the depth of talent in their squad. The team navigated through the group stage by winning their first two games. Coach Fernando Santos rotated most of his starting eleven for the final group game against South Korea, which they won 2-1 with a late goal, and then thrashed Switzerland 6-1 in the round of 16. final. Despite Morocco’s solid defense and their status as the surprise of the tournament, Portugal was still expected to beat the North African nation in the quarter-finals so in that sense it’s another missed opportunity and probably a low general performance of Ronaldo and his team.
WHO IS OUT
The world is waiting to see if Ronaldo, 37, retires from international duty after scoring a record 118 goals in men’s football and making 196 appearances in his 19 years with the national team. If Ronaldo continues, it is most likely that he will be only for Euro 2024 and not also for World Cup 2026, by which time he will be 41 years old. At 39, central defender Pepe is likely to have played in his last major tournament. Most in doubt is the future of Santos, who took charge of Portugal in 2014 after four years in charge of the Greece team. He has a contract until 2024 and repeatedly deflected any talk of leaving his job before the loss to Morocco. “I will have a discussion with the president (of the Portuguese soccer federation) and when we return to Portugal, we will discuss the issue of the contract,” Santos said.
WHO IS THE NEXT ONE
A future without Ronaldo may be an alarming proposition, but talent is emerging. Up front is 21-year-old Gonçalo Ramos, who scored a hat-trick against Switzerland when he replaced Ronaldo in his first start for the national team. There is a lot of excitement about the development of António Silva, a 19-year-old central defender from Benfica who looks like the natural replacement for Pepe, a player who is more than twice Silva’s age. João Félix is only 23 years old, so he has time on his side, while full-backs Diogo Dalot and Nuno Mendes are only 23 and 20, respectively.
WHATS NEXT
With or without Ronaldo, Portugal are the favorites in a Euro 2024 qualifying group that looks friendly. Portugal opens the group stage in March with a home match against Liechtenstein. The other teams in Group J are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Slovakia and Luxembourg. If Portugal makes it to the tournament in Germany, expect the team to be among the favourites, even without their most famous player.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
