The spotlight was intense as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal kicked off their World Cup campaign against the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the Houston Stadium on Wednesday, June 17.
After Lionel Messi gave us the ol’ razzle-dazzle with a hat-trick against Algeria, the stage was set for Ronaldo to make a statement and deliver some fireworks of his own. Alas, that didn’t come to pass. Amid the criticism of Portugal’s 1-1 draw, one voice stood, a man who had predicted that they would come up short if they went ahead with this Ronaldo-centric game plan.
ESPN’s Taylor Twellman Says ‘I Told You So’ as Cristiano Ronaldo Blanks For Portugal
Prior to Portugal kicking off their World Cup campaign, ESPN’s Taylor Twellman made the argument for Ronaldo to come off the bench in this World Cup. Actually, scratch that. Twellman said Portugal would be better off if Ronaldo didn’t take the pitch altogether.
“This is THE best team Ronaldo’s ever had around him for Portugal going into the World Cup. I think Portugal’s at their best if he doesn’t play,” Twellman said on an edition of ESPN’s Get Up.
After Ronaldo failed to take control and had an uninspired game by all standards, Twellman took somewhat of a victory lap, pointing back to his take.
“Wait, wait… You guys told me I was an ignorant American who should talk tackle football,” posted Twellman, in the aftermath of Portugal’s 1-1 draw with DR Congo. The ESPN analyst then made an appearance on SportsCenter to double down on his take.
“I’ve said it now for six months. The last ten major tournament games, 1,000+ minutes, he has not scored a goal from the run of play. Father Time has knocked on the door, it’s made a phone call, and someone from Portugal needs to pick up the phone and say to Cristiano, ‘You’re better coming off the bench.’”
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Rafael Leao and Goncalo Ramos saw some marginal game time against Congo, but as Portugal shuffled from flank to flank, they failed to penetrate Congo’s defense, throwing up a major issue for Martinez.
For his part, Martinez scoffed at the thought of cutting down Ronaldo’s game time, justifying his decision by stating that taking the world’s top scorer off the pitch would not make any sense.
“It made no sense at all to take off Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the best goalscorer in history, off the field when we were looking for goals,” were the Portugal coach’s words.
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Ronaldo played all 90 minutes, took the most shots in the game (3), but none of them were on goal, magnifying the problem Portugal face in this group. With a midfield of Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Pedro Neto, Vitinha, and Joao Neves, the expectation was for this squad to hit the ground running.
For now, it’s back to the drawing board. Their next match comes against Uzbekistan, next Tuesday, on June 23, at the Houston Stadium.
