Doha. Who is the best in the bath, who is the biggest, who is the most beautiful?
It remains to be seen.
Who is braver?
I’m voting for a gray-haired guy who bet everything he had on number 26 – and won.
Just an idea: What would you say if you promised your defiant teen a new video game console or a cool sports getaway with friends this Christmas, and then made them open a package containing three sets of socks?
A “purely strategic decision”?
Multiply that by ten million and your name is Fernando Santos.
The last time Portugal played South Korea, he took the place of European football’s biggest stars of the modern era, and it didn’t go well. Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the field, and TV cameras revealed exactly what he thought of the decision.
– You are in a hurry to replace me. This shit can go to hell.
And here we are, spaceship to the arena in a neighborhood that looks like something out of a Batman movie, in a place where fifteen years ago was mostly desert sand. Cristiano Ronaldo sat on the bench, he is 21 years old Benfiquista With three hats under his belt he has taken his place.
Fernando Santos declared that it was a purely strategic decision. They left the other one behind.
The whole final was played without Ronaldo
Maybe there was logic to that. Maybe imagine a long evening, when it would be nice to be able to enter the code when you need it.
But… he knew very well what was in front of him if his bet was wrong. It’s not like Cristiano Ronaldo is an obvious starter to all Portuguese fans anymore, not at all in the same way he was two or three years ago. They know what he gives, and they know what he takes too.
still:
If you want to move him, what is required is a very special kind of conviction and integrity, and if Fernando Santos has been frustrated a lot in recent years with his way of becoming passive and reactive when Portugal has leadership in defence, this has been in every way impressive leadership.
right? Wrong – wronged – wronged? will work. But she was brave.
Perhaps he was thinking of his greatest moment, when Portugal became European champions in 2016, and they went through the final almost entirely without Cristiano Ronaldo. It worked then, and it works… hardly now. Portugal came out as a cautious team, against a significantly more active Switzerland. When Diogo Costa got hold of the ball he waited, when Jan Sommer got hold of the ball, he played the square with his center back in his team’s penalty area. As Portugal built play, William Carvalho fell between the centre-backs, and when Switzerland advanced, they looked for crosses to replace right-back Edmilson Fernandes.
Nice to have on the phone, but other than that?
It was the sixth time the two teams had met in six years, and Portugal had time to learn that Switzerland had eleven good teams. The problem was that Murat Yakin was not with him. Injuries and a slender squad had cracked his back line—and when he was, it was somewhat noticeable.
Joao Felix was floating around playing football and when he worked the ball to Goncalo Ramos, the 21-year-old who had gone to the World Cup to “learn from Ronaldo” and who has now replaced him. Ramos stopped the ball on his first cross from the zero corner and celebrated Pistola’s gesture.
An hour passed before Ronaldo’s cheers started rolling inside the spaceship, he was outside to warm up and the stadium rose off the ground.
We want Ronaldo! We want Ronaldo!
And it was great having it on a cellphone camera, of course. But otherwise? At the time, Portugal led 4-1. Joao Felix continued to slide with his electrified feet and Pepe, 39, dominated his defense and headed it 2-0 from a corner past the uncoordinated Switzerland full-back. It’s amazing. My favorite story about Pepe is that he slept in his mother’s bed until he was 17, but when he dies, Portugal will display his tombstone in midfield, and they will do their defensive duties just fine.
Played without him – what is he thinking about?
Fernando Santos had bet on Goncalo Ramos, who advanced in third place. He had singled out pundit Rafael Guerrero, who shot the four into the net ceiling. Is focus enough? Well, Goncalo Ramos also scored a hat-trick.
Strategic decision? Good strategic decision.
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players the world has seen, he has carried his country to European Championship gold, he has done things no one can question (and some of which they should). Here his national team played football without him, on their way to their best World Cup in sixteen years. what is he thinking What does he feel? Does he treat it like Ronaldo’s 2016 Team Loyalty Finals? Like the cocky guy who lets Piers Morgan interview him?
When he finally came off the bench, with 20 minutes remaining and a 5-1 lead, the crowd screamed louder than at any time during the evening. When he sat down again, the boo was even louder. When he stood on the touchline to be substituted (and received a hug and captain’s armband from his friend Pepe) the sound barrier exploded. When his goal was disallowed (it was three meters offside), he was booed again, much more so than when substitute Rafael Leão was booed at 6-1.
This is what crossover in football 2022 looks like: watching football is fun and watching Ronaldo or Messi is even bigger. One is interest and the other is individual worship. It runs parallel to those Premier League proposals to watch Real Madrid vs Liverpool every week.
Are we not I enjoyed?
We’ve seen a 21-year-old score a hat-trick on his national team debut. We’ve seen a 39-year-old bald man defy time. We had to see Portugal shine. And we got to see a 68 year old thief from Penha de França in Lisbon who is the bravest of all.
If it’s strategic, I want to see it every week.