The Ronaldo debate continues

It is dividing families, splitting cities and carving a nation in two. There’s a generational component and, because it’s a 21st century matter, an online venue. International observers are being asked to pick a side.

Should Cristiano Ronaldo start Portugal’s upcoming match against Uzbekistan?

Some facts to consider: Ronaldo is the all-time top goalscorer in men’s international football; his international goals-per-match average is better than Lionel Messi’s; he’s won five Ballons d’Or and has claimed top-player honours in England, Spain and Italy; 10 years ago he captained his country to a first European Championship.

That’s the argument, or most of it, in the Verde-e-Brancos parts of Lisbon, among the highest and lowest age categories of Seleção supporters, and in Portugal’s central and southern regions, generally speaking.

This is the segment that believes Ronaldo should be the first name on the team-sheet and play the entire 90 minutes.

The counter-argument presents a very different case: Ronaldo is 41-years-old; it’s been three-and-a-half years since he played in Europe; his last Ballon d’Or came in 2017, his goalscoring record at major tournaments is wretched; he has never scored in a World Cup knock-out match.

Portugal fans in the north of the country, particularly in and around Porto, will present this body of counter-evidence, as will Benfica sections of the capital, and a sub-grouping of young to middle-age supporters that points to modern analytics — again, generally speaking.

This segment would like to see Ronaldo start from the bench, for what it would say is best for the team, and perhaps come on in the second half of games that require a bit of a jolt.

It all seems so football-specific; but it’s a discourse laced with vitriol, especially after Portugal’s 1-1 draw with DR Congo in its Group K opener.

Ronaldo played the full match, even if his stats log didn’t read like it. He had just 25 touches of the ball, was dispossessed on three of them and failed to place a single shot on target. As a headline in the Independent put it, Portugal was “10 men and a statue.”

Now, a performance like that wouldn’t typically present a manager with anything resembling a dilemma. They’d simply leave the player out of the next starting eleven. But Ronaldo is not a typical footballer, and manager Roberto Martinez doesn’t seem the least bit interested in benching his captain.

That, or he lacks the courage to make a decision at once glaringly obvious and personally risky. Consider for a moment the forces he’s up against.

There is Ronaldo, of course, and the ego that accompanies one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. But then there’s the Ronaldo family.

At the 2022 World Cup, when head coach Fernando Santos actually dropped the striker, the backlash was led by Ronaldo’s wife. After the DR Congo draw, Ronaldo’s sister introduced a conspiracy theory that had certain teammates mysteriously refusing to pass the ball to her brother.

It was ridiculous, and actually the opposite of the truth. Countless Portugal attacks stalled out on Wednesday because Ronaldo’s teammates were constantly looking for him, as if afraid to not include him in the buildups.

It also didn’t matter, because within hours the social media accounts of Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha and João Neves — and Neves’ girlfriend — were being attacked by mobs of angry Ronaldo fans, for whom the ex-Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus forward is sort of a cultish figure.

And it’s a cult with followers in very, very high places.

Back in November, Ronaldo was issued a red card and three-game suspension after elbowing Dara O’Shea in a 2-0 loss away to Ireland. With one World Cup qualifier remaining, the verdict meant he’d have to sit out Portugal’s first two matches of the World Cup.

Six days later, he was enjoying a black-tie dinner at the White House, alongside the U.S. president, FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, disgraced commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, Saudi crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Elon Musk.

Six days after that, his suspension was reduced, allowing him a full World Cup campaign.

When you take on Ronaldo, these are the sorts of men you’re fighting — them, and the tens of thousands of far-right, crypto-holding tech bros who moonlight as Ronaldo-bros. In other words, you’re entering a very unpleasant space.

In that context, Martinez has no incentive whatsoever to name his captain among the substitutes. If there’s a battle playing out in his mind, it has the upside of Ronaldo perhaps getting a tap-in and the downside of threats to his family. It’s not even close.

Which is a shame.

This Portugal team, from top to bottom, is the best that’s taken the field since 2004, and perhaps 1966. It should be a genuine World Cup favourite. But it isn’t. Not while it’s being held hostage by Ronaldo and his enablers.

The living room disputes in Lisbon, Porto and around the world should be arguments about tactics, squad rotations and the qualities of an upcoming opponent.

Instead, what we’ve got is a toxic debate whose only outcome will be to render other conversations meaningless, and Portugal’s 2026 World Cup a lost cause.

winnipegfreepress.com/jerradpeters