“In Portugal they don’t trust Cristiano to pass the ball”: a play with Bernardo Silva exemplifies it | Sports

Portugal and the Czech Republic closed the first round of matches in the group stage of the Euro Cup with a 2-1 victory for the Portuguese team thanks to a goal in added time from Conceiçao. In addition to the Porto footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo was the other big name in the clash, both for a positive and a negative aspect. He is the Al-Nassr footballer who became the player with the most appearances in the Euro Cup and is one step away from being the oldest scorer in this competition. On the negative side, Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated in the face of the Czech Republic goalkeeper the 2-1 in stoppage time with which Portugal won the match. When everyone ran to celebrate together, the Portuguese made a mocking gesture at both a defender and the rival goalkeeper.

Stuart Pearce, former English footballer, stated in talkSPORT after the Portugal game that, although it may sound ridiculous, he believes that the team “does not trust Cristiano Ronaldo enough to continue supplying him with the ball.” This argument is supported by the fact that, throughout their first meeting at Euro 2024, “there were moments in the duel in which he asked for the ball and they did not give him the ball.”

Pearce goes further and remembers a play in which it is perfectly staged how Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammates prefer not to pass him the ball: “There was a play with Bernardo Silva, in one of those poorly given passes that was cut off. Bernardo Silva cut it off. had in the central circle and Cristiano Ronaldo took off in a position towards the inside right. That’s when I think: “If this were 10 years ago, you pass it in front of him and you know perfectly well that he is going to arrive and score.” and it seemed quite strange to me.”

Pepe also made history

Pepe is already the oldest footballer to play in a Euro Cup match, at 41 years and 113 days old, already ahead of the Hungarian Gabor Kiraly, at 40 years and 86 days old in 2016. For his part, Cristiano Ronaldo, owner of almost all tournament records, began the sixth continental final phase of his career. He debuted in 2004 in this competition and has already accumulated a total of 26 games.