Diogo Dalot has lifted the lid on something that probably does not get talked about enough in international football. Portugal, he says, sat down before the World Cup and actually prepared themselves for the wave of criticism and noise that was likely to come their way on social media. And if you think about who was in that squad, it is not hard to understand why.
Cristiano Ronaldo attracts attention like no other player on the planet. Some of it is adoration, obviously, but plenty of it is the opposite. Every time he has a quiet game, every time Portugal struggle, every time a decision gets made about his role in the team, the internet absolutely loses its mind. Dalot and his teammates clearly knew that going into a major tournament with Ronaldo in tow meant the online noise was going to be relentless.
What is interesting here is not just that the criticism existed, but that Portugal treated it seriously enough to actually plan for it. That is a mature and sensible approach from a squad that clearly wanted to stay focused on football rather than getting dragged into whatever drama was brewing on Twitter or wherever else. Teams that let external noise seep into the dressing room tend to crumble at tournaments, so getting ahead of it makes a lot of sense.
As a Manchester United fan, Dalot is someone this writer has watched closely for years. He has grown into a genuinely solid full-back and the fact he is speaking with this level of composure and intelligence about the inner workings of a World Cup squad shows how much he has matured. He is not just a footballer these days, he is a leader.
Portugal did not exactly set the world alight at the last World Cup but they were not a disaster either. Managing the Ronaldo situation, both on and off the pitch, was always going to be their biggest challenge. It sounds like they handled the off-field part of it better than many people realised at the time.
Let me know your thoughts.