For the second time in 18 years, Cristiano Ronaldo has not started for Portugal as a starting player in a match that was not friendly. Last time was almost five years ago…against Andorra. Are there any signs of rejuvenation in the Portuguese fleet?
Cristiano Ronaldo: 37 years, 187 caps. Joao Moutinho: 35 years, 145 caps, Pepe: 39 years, 125 caps, Rui Patricio 34 years, 103 caps.
The backbone of the Portuguese national team has been through some wars. Ronaldo, Pepe, Moutinho and Patricio all played the won final of the European Championship in and against France.
They also played all four of the lost 1/8th finals against the Red Devils at the European Championship last summer and all four were in the squad for Thursday night’s Nations League game against Spain.
Pepe and Moutinho started in the starting line-up. The news in Portugal was that Ronaldo and to a lesser extent Patricio did not. The last time CR7 was in the squad but didn’t start in a match that wasn’t friendly was almost 5 years ago: a World Cup qualifier against Andorra.
For the non-friendly match before that, we have to go back to 2004, when Ronaldo was only 19 years old.
That Ronaldo won’t start in a practice match against a small country, okay. But against big neighbor Spain in the Nations League?
| Matches in which Ronaldo did not start in base | ||
|---|---|---|
20/08/2003 | Kazakhstan | Friendly international |
18/02/2004 | England | Friendly international |
31/03/2004 | Italy | Friendly international |
28/04/2004 | Sweden | Friendly international |
29/05/2004 | Luxemburg | Friendly international |
05/06/2004 | Lithuania | Friendly international |
12/06/2004 | Greece | EC 2004 |
16/06/2004 | Russia | EC 2004 |
31/03/2009 | South Africa | Friendly international |
08/06/2010 | Mozambique | Friendly international |
07/10/2017 | Andorra | World Cup Qualification |
11/11/2020 | Andorra | Friendly international |
02/06/2022 | Spain | UEFA Nations League |
Gentle Rejuvenation
National coach Fernando Santos has been the continuous captain of the Portuguese football fleet since 2014. His most important conquests: the final victory at the European Championship in 2016 and the final victory in the Nations League in 2019.
Those awards have earned him hero status in Portugal, but Santos has occasionally been criticized in recent years for not rejuvenating his fleet sufficiently.
He has the image of being conservative. Both in repeatedly selecting players who have achieved success with him, and in his often preserved football philosophy. For having so much attacking talent, Portugal plays little frivolous, is the criticism.
That’s why some of his picks in recent months are interesting.
In the vital World Cup qualifying play-offs against North Macedonia and Turkey, he chose Porto’s 22-year-old Diogo Costa in goal and not Patricio.
I thought it would be better for this match to use the players I’ve lined up now. It had to do with technical and tactical reasons.
The young goalkeeper was also in goal against Spain. And Milan sensation Leao (22) also started Thursday in the base as a left attacker.
Ronaldo had to watch in a training vest for 62 minutes before he was allowed to come in.
Putting Ronaldo on the bench is one thing, what you tell about it as a national coach is at least as important. Of course, Santos didn’t lose his big star, but he didn’t come up with football cliches either.
Santos could have said it had been a long season, that Ronaldo was not quite fit or that there were many important games to come. What Santos said was:
“I thought it was better for this match to use the players I have lined up now. It was technical and tactical reasons. This approach was the best option to play the way I wanted in this match.”
“It has nothing to do with Ronaldo’s qualities. They are not up for discussion. But there are times when we have to think differently.”
Will the match against Spain be the match in which it became clear that Ronaldo is no longer untouchable at Portugal? With the Nations League and the World Cup on the horizon, 2022 will teach us a lot about this.
