According to former player Paul Merson, Cristiano Ronaldo should know how to accept sitting on the bench in the Portuguese team’s matches at EURO 2024, because his age and level are no longer at the high level like before.
Ronaldo will have his 6th EURO appearance, a record, and at the age of 39. This famous player has great faith in the Portuguese team by coach Roberto Martinez because of his role as leader, captain and experience from 5 times competing in previous EURO tournaments.
“Personally, if I decide on the Portuguese team’s lineup in two important opening matches in the EURO 2024 group stage, I will remove Ronaldo from the main lineup. He should play from the bench to gradually regain the feeling of playing football at the highest level in Europe. If Ronaldo performs well, he can play in the final match of the group stage and keep his position for the matches in the knockout round,” Mr. Paul Merson assessed, in comments on the Sportskeeda site about the matches. of the Portuguese team at EURO 2024.
In the EURO 2024 group stage, the Portuguese team is in Group F, playing the opening match against the Czech Republic team at 2:00 a.m. on June 19, against the Turkish team at 11:00 p.m. on June 22 and against the Georgia team at 2:00 p.m. hours on June 27.
“Ronaldo had a pretty good season in Saudi Arabia for Al Nassr Club (scoring 35 goals in the Saudi Pro League). But remember, this tournament has a much lower level than other tournaments in Europe. Therefore, it is necessary to find the rhythm again so that Ronaldo can meet the very high requirements like at EURO.
The Portuguese team will be very strong defensively with Pepe and Ruben Dias at the back, and the versatility of Bruno Fernandes in the middle. In the front line, their advantage is speed with strikers Goncalo Ramos, Joao Felix, Rafael Leao or Diogo Jota. In this regard, Ronaldo has been very slow recently due to the burden of age,” Mr. Paul Merson analyzed.
Paul Merson is a former player of Arsenal Club, he is currently a commentator for talkSPORT channel and leading newspapers in England, as well as participating in commenting on EURO 2024.
“Therefore, I think coach Roberto Martinez should consider Ronaldo’s role carefully and step by step, to be able to take advantage of all of this player’s advantages. Above all is the mental factor of Ronaldo’s leadership role in the dressing room, followed by his ability to play at necessary times to help him regain his feeling and excitement.
Ronaldo should also know how to accept sitting on the bench and give timely advice thanks to his experience to his juniors. By doing this, the Portuguese team will be very formidable at EURO 2024. Remember, it was Ronaldo’s problems that caused this team to go through a disappointing 2022 World Cup, when they were defeated by the Ma team. Rock was eliminated in the quarterfinals”, Paul Merson expressed.
The Portuguese team gained momentum for EURO 2024 with 2 friendly matches including a 4-2 win over Finland and a 1-2 loss to Croatia. They will play their final friendly match against the Republic of Ireland team at 1:45 a.m. on June 12. In this match, Ronaldo is expected to play from the beginning to test his form and fitness.
