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Former Manchester United captain and football pundit Gary Neville reckons his former teammate and legend Cristiano Ronaldo 'overachieved' with Portugal during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Selecao lost 1-0 to Morocco in the quarterfinals, with their captain scoring just once in five games and starting from the bench in both knockout games.
Neville said that former Portugal manager Fernando Santos did not use the talented young squad well enough to fulfill Ronaldo's dream of winning the World Cup. He also hit out at Santos for not using Ronaldo's strength for the team's benefit like Lionel Scaloni has done with Lionel Messi at Argentina and for benching Ronaldo in the knockouts.
However, Neville reckons the former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker achieved a lot with his national team despite being 37 and should not think that he has 'underachieved' in any sense. In his Sky Sports column, Neville said:
“I wouldn't class it as an underachievement from Cristiano, it's an overachievement for him to be doing what he's doing at 37 years of age. It's just the way it ended with him being out of the team, and how disappointing and poor Portugal were as a group chasing the game against Morocco.”
Portugal began their campaign brightly, winning group. Their emphatic 6-1 win over Switzerland in the Round of 16 made them one of the contenders for the ultimate trophy, but their campaign ended against Morocco in the last eight.
However, more than Portugal's ouster from Qatar, it was Ronaldo's run through the tunnel, sobbing and crying, that shook fans and football viewers, as this could have been his fifth and last FIFA World Cup appearance.
Ronaldo managed only one goal in this edition of the World Cup, taking his competition tally to eight goals. The Portuguese international has not spoken about his future with the national team, but media reports claim that he should be around for the 2024 Euros.
Former teammates waited for Ronaldo's bad phase to attack him - Luca Toni slams Cristiano Ronaldo's critics
Cristiano Ronaldo has been subjected to a lot of criticism for his underwhelming returns at Manchester United this season and his reactions after getting benched by Erik ten Hag. Critics claim that teams play better and more fluidly when Ronaldo is on the bench and that the 37-year-old is not ready to accept his slump.
However, a lot of former players and pundits have come to the defence of one of the greatest players to have played the game. Recently, former Italy striker Luca Toni slammed Ronaldo's critics, saying that the Portuguese should be respected for the greatness he has achieved in the game. Toni said:
“The thing that bothers me is those who played football that attack Cristiano Ronaldo. The former teammates who saw the greatness of this player waited for a bad phase to do it. He has made football history. I think we must respect greatness.”
Ronaldo is the only player to score in five editions of the World Cup.
