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Cristiano Ronaldo was accused of « staggering around the pitch like a grandpa » during the Portugal’s World Cup defeat by Spain last night.
The 41-year-old was a peripheral figure as Roberto Martinez’s men went down 1-0 thanks to Mikel Merino’s injury time strike in Dallas.
Martinez was accused of pandering to Ronaldo, with many pundits believing that new AC Milan signing Gonzalo Ramos should have been given more opportunities.
Ramos did not come off the bench against Spain and Ronaldo played the whole match, a decision which led to some scathing criticism from BBC pundit Chris Sutton.
Sutton, who was a key member of the Blackburn Rovers team that won the Premier League in 1995, said in comments for Radio 5 live: « He’s strutting around the pitch like a grandpa, that’s why Portugal is out. Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t do anything; he didn’t do anything. What’s Roberto Martinez doing? How can you please a player so much? Portugal is out because of Roberto Martinez. »
Sutton says Martinez should have been stronger than Ronaldo
Ronaldo made his 233rd appearance for Portugal last night and admitted after the game that he will now leave and consider his international future.
And Sutton has indicated that he thinks now is Ramos’ time.
He added: « How come Gonzalo Ramos didn’t come on? It’s an absolute disgrace of the manager, just pandering to his star player.
« He is the most decorated player that Portugal has ever had, but you have to be stronger than that. »
Martinez, who yesterday confirmed he would be stepping down following his side’s elimination, had nothing but praise for Ronaldo.
« He was an exemplary captain, » he said.
« I arrived in Portugal at a time of a lot of confusion and doubts about Cristiano and he was a role model, not only with goals and assists, what he does in the penalty area, his commitment, how he experiences football. He is an example, we have to celebrate him.
« We are talking about an icon in football. There are not many Cristiano Ronaldos. We should be grateful for what he did in this World Cup, he wanted to win it, as a player, captain, on a human level, we will all take him with us forever. An example of the human being behind the athlete. »
Martinez defends decision to leave Ronaldo
Martinez also defended his decision to stick with Ronaldo and leave Ramos on the bench.
« When you’re a team and you need a goal, you can’t take Cristiano Ronaldo off, » Martinez added. « He can play 90 minutes, no problem. He is a presence, he opens up space, a dead ball situation, everything in the penalty area, it will not make sense.
« In extra-time it probably would have made sense to use Gonzalo Ramos. We had to keep the structure, it wasn’t like taking your best scorer out in the 90 minutes. »
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#struts #pitch #grandpa
