Cristiano Ronaldo may yet win another important trophy before he calls it quits. Ronaldo’s Portugal reached the quarterfinals of Euro 2024 after knocking out Slovenia in a penalty shoot-out which the 2016 champions claimed 3-0 in the wee hours today.
Ronaldo was one of those three scorers. It was a great effort from the Portugal captain who beat the Slovenian goalkeeper comfortably even though the latter had second-guessed what he was going to do. Ronaldo is now just three wins away from his second major international trophy in the bag.
Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and Ronaldo have many parallels between them. It’s no secret how Kohli admires the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star. His fitness, his work ethic and his ability to perform in the face of severe criticism have always inspired Kohli. He appears to style after him, so much so that Sri Lankan cricketer Bhanuka Rajapaksa called Kohli “the Cristiano Ronaldo of Cricket” during IPL 2022.
Exactly a month back, Kohli, who will turn 36 in November, was seeking his first World T20 trophy ahead of the ninth edition in the US and the Caribbean. He had won the World Cup and the Champions Trophy in 2011 and 2013 respectively but in the twilight of his career he had no bigger desire than to win the World T20 and last weekend he retired from the format on the highest note possible after India beat South Africa in the final at Bridgetown.
Ronaldo, who won his first major trophy in Euro 2016, will be looking out for a similar swansong. He has not won any World Cup trophy. At the age of 39 he is unlikely to play in the next World Cup in 2026, which means the ongoing Euros in Germany becomes all the more important to him. Portugal weren’t any real contenders going into the tournament but now that they are in the quarterfinals their campaign cannot be taken lightly. They will be extraordinarily revved up now.
One cannot discuss Ronaldo without invoking his arch-rival Lionel Messi who won the World Cup in 2022. The year before he had won his first major international silverware when Argentina beat Brazil in the Copa America final.
There was a time when Ronaldo was leading the popularity charts, especially after Portugal’s Euros win but those two trophies of Messi’s in the space of 17 months or so turned it around for the Argentine.
So it would not be wrong to say that Ronaldo badly needs the Euros to narrow the gap on Messi. The Euros boasts the best teams in Europe and it can be said that in terms of competitiveness they have the edge over the World Cup where because of the nature of the tournament, there could often be one-sided match-ups.
Ronaldo and Portugal face their biggest test yet in the quarterfinals against Kylian Mbappe’s France on Saturday. And they have a history. Earlier this year, Ronaldo had termed the Saudi Pro League — where he plays for Al-Nassr — better than the French league.
Although Mbappe, World Cup winner and runner-up in 2018 and 2022, has since moved to Real Madrid in Spain, one shouldn’t be surprised if Ronaldo’s comments still rankle. But it may also be noted, Mbappe had his nose broken in France’s opener against Austria. He missed one game before returning in a masked avatar in the team’s last group game against Poland.
If Portugal can overcome Belgium-slayer France, it will be a massive boost to their title credentials. Ronaldo has not got a single goal to his name so far but his effort from the spot against Slovenia should revitalise him.
One can see there is a lot at stake for Ronaldo. He is fighting for prestige which makes him a dangerous prospect in front of goal. France, particularly in light of Mbappe’s nose injury, should be wary of him. We will know soon enough if he goes out of international football the same way Kohli had his departure from T20Is.
