With Portugal knocked out of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo’s hopes of ever winning the coveted trophy have been dashed in what was probably his final appearance in the tournament. To make matters worse, the 37-year-old was also criticised by fans and experts for his display in the group stage, and then was consequently benched for the Round of 16 and quarter-final games.
The Portugal captain managed to score only one goal in Qatar, which came in Portugal’s opener and failed to impress against Uruguay and South Korea. The European side even lost to South Korea 1-2 in their final group stage match. Then in the Round of 16 game, Portugal manager Fernando Santos took the bold decision to bench Ronaldo and replace him with Benfica’s Goncalo Ramos. Making his World Cup debut, Ramos went on to grab a hat-trick as his side sealed a 6-1 win vs Switzerland. But then in the quarter-final, the tactical change didn’t work for Santos as Morocco went on to secure a historic 1-0 win and Ronaldo failed to make an impact after coming in as a substitute in the second-half.
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Since then, Ronaldo has already posted a message for his fans on social media, where he expressed his sadness at missing out on the trophy for Portugal, who have also never won the World Cup. Recently, he posted a story on Instagram, where he revealed that he was still overcoming the pain of Portugal’s exit. He posted a photo, where it was scribbled, “3 ASPECTS OF REALITY PAIN, UNCERTAINTY AND CONSTANT WORK”.
Currently a free agent, Ronaldo has been rumoured to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr in the coming days. According to reports, he has been offered a two-and-a-half year deal worth 200 million euros per season. His Manchester United contract was terminated after a controversial interview with Piers Morgan, where he criticised the club and manager Erik ten Hag.