And so it ends. Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup story is over, and it ends the same way it always has — without the trophy. For all the records, all the goals, all the Champions Leagues and Ballon d'Or awards, the World Cup always felt like the one that got away, and now it always will.
Ronaldo gave everything he had to Portugal's national team over the years, and nobody can take that away from him. But there is an honest conversation to be had about whether his presence at this tournament helped or hurt the team. Roberto Martinez, who has now left his role as Portugal manager, was widely criticised for pandering to Ronaldo rather than making the difficult decisions that top international managers have to make. When your tactics are shaped around protecting one player's feelings rather than giving the team the best chance of winning, that is a problem.
Martinez came in with a solid reputation after his work with Belgium, but his time with Portugal will largely be remembered for the same issue — a gifted squad that never quite performed the way it should have. Portugal had real quality all over the pitch. Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Rafael Leao — these are not average players. Yet somehow they never clicked as a unit the way you hoped they would, and the Ronaldo question hung over everything like a cloud that nobody wanted to address out loud.
Ronaldo himself will be devastated, and it is hard not to feel for him on a human level. He has dedicated his entire life to football and winning, and watching him leave a World Cup in tears is genuinely difficult to watch, even for those who have grown tired of the circus that surrounds him. He is still, without question, one of the greatest to ever play the game.
But football is a team sport, and Portugal needed a manager willing to treat it like one. Now they have the chance to rebuild with someone who will. The Ronaldo era for Portugal is over, and perhaps that is the fresh start everyone needs.
Let me know your thoughts.