Is it right to blame Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal's exit ?

A dismayed Ronaldo following their early exit at the World Cup

With all the group games of 2014 World Cup coming to a conclusion, another European giant, Portugal met with the same fate as that of their neighbours Spain, Italy and England: a first round exit. Shambolic defence, toothless attack and precisely, a chronic dependency on Ronaldo made Portugal pay a hefty fine. While considering the dismal campaign endured by the Seleccao, the question arises - is it right to make Ronaldo the ‘scapegoat’ for his national team’s failure?

After clinching the much coveted ‘La decima’ with Real Madrid and breaking several records in the process, the stakes had risen higher than ever for the 29-year old. But a niggling knee injury hampered his performances in recent months and notably in this world cup. Carrying the burden of the entire nation on his shoulders had only added to his misery. Even when Portugal were looking down the barrel at half time against Germany, the lampooning had already begun. But was that justified?

Now, one may argue Ronaldo’s tremendous contribution in EURO 2012’s success and in the qualification for the mega event in Brazil, but you cannot expect one player to do that all alone each time. A lot goes into the making of a squad, who pose as serious contenders for the cup and not just one player. ‘A wounded soldier cannot defeat a whole army’ and similarly so, a single player cannot win a world cup for his country beside winning a few matches.

To explain the purpose of this article, take an example - suppose Brazil won the ongoing tournament. Will that be only because Neymar scored many goals? No! Several others like Fred, Oscar, Marcelo, Gustavo etc. too will be equally credited for the success. The same goes for Messi if Argentina wins it.

How can one possibly blame Ronaldo if the Portuguese defence were poor ? How is Ronaldo accountable for conceding goals ? These questions must be asked to those who are constantly mocking the talismanic captain for the poor show. Ronaldo is definitely one of his kind with remarkable talent, but this world cup was definitely not his one (consider that of Messi’s, in South Africa 2010), especially considering the fact that he was repeatedly pestered by injuries. Despite that, the world player of the year, played for whole 90 minutes for all three games, created chances, helped the winning goal against USA, scored the winning goal against Ghana and in short, went the whole nine yards for his team. Still criticize him ? Shame!

If there is someone to blame for the loss, then it should be the whole of Portugal team and not just Ronaldo.