Does Cristiano Ronaldo have one last hurrah left in the tank?
It’s hard to believe how fast time flies. It seems like yesterday that Cristiano Ronaldo was being talked about as one of world football’s most exciting young prospects, and now he is preparing to lead Portugal into another European Championships at the grand old age of 36. Ronaldo has been a familiar presence at so many tournaments over the last 20 years or so, and the upcoming Euros could well be his last.
The question is whether or not Ronaldo has one last gargantuan tournament left in him, to help Portugal defend the title they won five years ago. That was seen as a landmark moment in Ronaldo’s career, and although he limped off injured in the final against France, it was still a momentous achievement for Portugal’s footballing legend, as was the UEFA Nations League victory a few years later.
While 36 is the age at which many footballers choose to retire, Ronaldo hasn’t shown too many signs of slowing down. Of course, he is a different kind of player now compared to when he was younger, utilized more as an out-and-out striker rather than a winger due to his gradual loss of pace. But he is still scoring hatfuls of goals for Juventus in Serie A, with 35 to his name this season. While that is a slight comedown from some of the frankly obscene figures he used to post with Real Madrid, it still speaks to a forward operating at an extremely high level.
The challenge now is to grab the bull by the horns at Euro 2020. It’s fair to say that Ronaldo has never quite been the star player at an international tournament. He has never managed to win the Golden Boot at the World Cup or European Championships, and he has never been awarded the player of the tournament accolade either. He’s an outside bet in the UEFA Euro 2020 player of the tournament odds, but has he left it too late to truly be the star man at one of these major tournaments.
Of course, the reality is that his Portugal teammates are not always of the same caliber as those he plays with at club level, and that makes it difficult for Ronaldo to hit the same heights in terms of goal tallies. But there is often a sense that Ronaldo seems to try too hard when it comes to major international tournaments. There is an immense amount of pressure on his shoulders as the figurehead for the Portuguese national team, and there’s no doubt that that has played a part in Ronaldo not always producing his best on the international stage.
However, with that Euro 2016 triumph in the tank, perhaps Ronaldo will feel he can play with a touch more freedom than before. He certainly seemed surer of himself at the 2018 World Cup, where he scored four goals, and with fewer and fewer tournaments ahead of him as his career winds down, perhaps he’ll be able to relax and play his natural game.
There’s no question that, if Ronaldo hits top form, he could well be the standout player of this year’s European Championships. Football will be poorer on the day that he chooses to retire, so wouldn’t it be wonderful to deliver a stunning month of performances this summer.
