Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has claimed that Portugal manager Roberto Martinez has to bench Cristiano Ronaldo at the FIFA World Cup. He has urged the manager to think about the team first and not the forward.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Vieira said that it is a huge problem for Martinez if Ronaldo starts matches, as it is disrupting the side. However, he believes that the forward will not understand the decision, as he has never been benched often and said:
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“Of course, it’s a huge problem for the manager. But as a manager, how do you want to sit down with Ronaldo and tell him, ‘Listen, You’re gonna be on the bench, you’re not gonna start today’. He is never gonna understand it because he never has been in that situation, but they will have to. He won’t, [and] not gonna understand because he doesn’t understand how ‘Ronaldo? Me? Not starting the game? Isn’t possible!’.”
“He has never been in that situation, so of course, it’s a difficult situation for the manager because he has to think about the team first before thinking about Ronaldo. So he will have to make some really strong decision not to start him if the team is better with our team”
Cristiano Ronaldo had three shots in the 1-1 draw to DR Congo, and all of them were off target. He played the whole game, and not Gary Lineker is worried that the forward is fading away.
The former England striker praised the Portuguese superstar’s career, but said:
“He’s now gone ten consecutive games without scoring a goal at major tournaments for Portugal, ten. I worry for him a little bit that his, his legacy will be spoiled a little bit if he kicks off and he gets taken off and then he has a strop and all that, because he has been for two decades an extraordinarily wonderful footballer.”
Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to be in the starting XI next week when Portugal face Uzbekistan.
Cristiano Ronaldo was benched at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo started all group games in 2022, but was benched by Fernando Santo in the knockout stage. The Portugal captain managed just one goal in the five matches before his side was knocked out by Morocco.
The forward finds himself in a similar situation, amid calls from fans and former players to bench him. Roberto Martinez was asked in his post-match presser why he opted to leave the captain on despite the poor performance and he was not impressed.
The Portugal manager said that it made no sense for them to take off Cristiano Ronaldo when they were chasing a goal in the FIFA World Cup game.
Edited by Sripad