To qualify for the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year, Portugal need only two victories - tonight (21:45, Sport 5 Live) over Turkey, and later against Italy or northern Macedonia.
The competition is tough, but the fact that it has Cristiano Ronaldo seems like a guarantee of success.
Because CR7, with hard and uncompromising work, has created a reputation as a winning contractor and has become one of the game's big winners.
Always provided exiles and degrees, always had an equation without disappearing.
Ronaldo has provided consistent results on teams, national teams and individually.
The peak period of the winning Ronaldo was in the previous decade.
Four championships at Real and Juventus, three trophies, two local supercaps, one European, four Champions League wins, three Club World Cups, a Euro 2016 win, and three years later in the League of Nations.
And these are just the group degrees.
Cristiano Ronaldo.
What happened to the big winner ?, Photo: AP
His dominance was so great that he wrote the Champions League record books, added four gold balls to himself and was named Player of the Year in Spain and Italy.
The Portuguese star gave the feeling that with him the chances of success are always higher than with others, but recently this trend has been halted.
Ronaldo's last major title was a championship with Juventus in 2020, and she was also the ninth in a row in a team that won championships on an automatic.
Since then he has only added an Italian Cup with Juventus, and this season at Manchester United it is already known he will be left empty-handed after relegation from the Cups in England and the Champions League.
In the most important European factory, Ronaldo has not passed the quarter-finals for three consecutive years, and even in the squad the journey to the World Cup has become complicated.
In uniform.
The peak period of the winning Ronaldo was in the previous decade, Photo: AFP
In the world of a superstar, just as the credit clings to you when you win - so the reviews come when you don't.
Suddenly some wonder: Has Ronaldo turned from the central screw into the weak link?
In his presence, does he weaken the team and the team?
Is it better without it?
If you ask Santos: unnecessary discussion
These questions now concern many.
The British BBC and GUARDIAN, as well as ESPN, have recently been trying to respond to them.
They stem first and foremost from the less flattering results of the teams Ronaldo plays for - Manchester United and also the Portugal national team - and also his output.
With the exception of the huge hat-trick against Tottenham, he has scored only once in 2022, and it is clear that this is not Ronaldo of yesteryear.
At 37, Ronaldo finally looks like someone 37 years old.
Ronaldo does not believe.
Unnecessary discussion ?, Photo: AP
The numbers show that this season he touches the ball less, tries fewer dribbles, and has actually become a striker waiting for balls near the extension and kicking for goal.
Tactically, he is certainly not the best fit for Ralph Rangnick's ideas at United, and he weighs heavily on those of Fernando Santos on the team.
He's barely participating in the pressure game, he's a different kind of Ronaldo.
And yet, especially at the start of Portugal's important games, it seems that just as Ronaldo could be a problem - he could also be the solution: his range of abilities is still huge, as the hat-trick against the Roosters proved, and despite all he is still the Red Devils' top scorer this season. .
The conclusion reached by anyone who wondered whether it was better without him or with him, is that the answer is complex.
Cristiano Ronaldo.
The biggest of all ?, Photo: Reuters
He is still one of the greatest goal scorers in the world, but gives no more than that.
In Portugal, a discussion has recently developed as to whether the star should open against Turkey, but the discussion is probably unnecessary.
Fernando Santos confirmed that Ronaldo will play from the start, because "no team can play better without the best player in the world."
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us
